Its the end of the World (again!)

COLINS FILM CLUB Reviews. INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE Cinema review 12a Rated.

20yrs is normally skipped over in cinematic terms within films as a means to either go back or fast forward to a specific point in the story. However for this film we have literally had to wait 20yrs almost to the day for this sequel to pick up from where it's illustrious predecessor left us. And a lot has happened in between the two films. After the devastating attack in 1996 the World has come together in peace and harmony to develop defences gathered from Alien tech in a bid to defend the Earth from future attacks. We now have cool helicopters without rotors and fighter planes with anti-gravity propulsion and laser weapons, as well as outer space development in Jupiter and on the Moon. So when a large spherical ship which is giving off a kind of shiny Death Star vibe pulls up in Earth's orbit, naturally we use the new found weapons to blow it up. Thing is, this isn't the same Aliens as before, and as our heroes soon find out when a second Queen bearing Harvester Ship arrives courtesy or the original bad guys, things are to become a lot more complicated and crowded than they first thought... So, without giving away too much of the plot what exactly does this belated sequel give us? Well, in true form, Director Roland Emmerich is up to his usual tricks in wide scale wreckage and mayhem, this time upping the ante with the dropping of Dubai on top of London, yes - old Blighty gets a pasting this time. And although the baddies arrive in one ship this time, it's massive - over 3000 miles wide! Somebody should tell them that bigger isn't always better. Sadly nobody thought to tell Roland this either, because although spectacular to start with the menace of its arrival is underwhelming and it essentially becomes a huge drilling platform over the Atlantic. Of the returning stars, Goldblum gives his normal cool, almost geeky but heroic genius turn that has served him so well both here and in two Jurassic Park films, it's like a familiar old jacket he just pops on and is instantly at home with, and he is also more significantly the grounding force of the film. Bill Pullman returns as trouble ex-president Whitmore plagued by visions of the Alien's return, plus we have the even more geeky and crazy Brent Spiner in a much more expanded part - and yes, he didn't "die" in the first film, just stayed in a coma. Missing in Action is Wil Smith's Captain Hillier, Smith reportedly declined to join the film therefore his absence is filled with a website back story and his off screen death by a memorial picture in the White House. Vivicia A Fox returns briefly as Jasmine only to fall victim to the Alien attack in a blink and you'll miss it role. Of the newcomers, Liam Hemsworth stands out but most of them are instantly forgettable and nobody really has enough background fleshed out for you to even care if they make it to the end credits or not. The first film is renowned for its budget ridden effects and it's use of both model and puppetry techniques, pushing the envelope to achieve big and bold images on screen at a fraction of a cost. The sequel is full on CGI, and for good and bad, this shows... it's easier nowadays to render on a computer what you could never do with practical effects, and Emmerich has dived into the CGI treasure box of delights. From large spaceships to impressive dogfights, these scenes have never looked better..! We see also for the first time the Alien's fighting on the ground and the unveiling of a Queen mastermind behind the Alien threat. At the start of this review I mentioned another Alien vessel turning up before the chaos erupts, this story thread runs in the background of the main events with various people across the Earth seeing the same symbol ala Close Encounters type thing - this symbol of a circle is from a benevolent Alien race who make contact with the Humans (why didn't they show up during the 1996 attack to help out??) and the plot sets itself up for a further inevitable sequel which pushes the series into an implausible if interesting direction. Independence Day Resurgence is familiar ground, it has a familiar feel to the original and familiar faces to help connect to it and push the story forward. It's a fun 2hrs and it's certainly not a disaster in cinema terms, however - there are a few things that jar a bit and therefore mark it out a slightly inferior to the first film. The bad guys arrival and second attack feels rushed, it's almost over before you start getting into it, and with the Earth on a more equal footing, if still floundering - the Alien threat has little weight or peril than in the first film. Also, the lack of impact by the new faces leaves the film wanting, it's not that any of them are particularly bad it's just without any audience engagement you left feeling the vacuum, and this is made worse when the filmmakers bump off established characters with little screen time. You definitely feel cheated. So, 20yrs is along time to wait for a sequel to follow up and deliver on its original source material. Get the chemistry right again and it's going to be brilliant, get it totally wrong and the film will suck big time! But if you hit it slightly off centre as Emmerich has done here then you get an enjoyable romp of silliness and destruction which hits you with tiny waves of 1996 nostalgia, just never bettering it. Independence Day Resurgence is fun,brash but flawed, however its not the worst cost of a cinema ticket you ever pay for and is definitely worth a look if you enjoyed the first one.

Bigger, brasher and even dumber than the original. This belated and uneven sequel may appeal to fans of the original, but others looking for a little more will be disappointed.

COLINS FILM CLUB Rating: 🌟🌟🌟