Independence Day: Resurgence (2016) | a 10 point review

[+] Independence Day: Resurgence is not much worse than Independence Day (1996).
[-] But also definitely no better.

[+] Jeff Goldblum is back, and delightful as ever.
[-] But Will Smith is not, and he’s sorely missed. The actor playing his son does not even compare remotely.
[+] The pictures are pretty, and the sound is awesome (the alien tech weapons ‘feel’ as satisfying as a good crackling fart).
[-] Too bad the sights and sounds are botched by choppy editing. There’s a pivotal action scene unexpectedly climaxing into a half-assed explosion, and lots of dialogue moments are cut off when you still expect something pivotal to be said by any of the characters.
[+] Explosions! Fights! Chase scenes! And even lasers VS katana blades! The action scenes are off the wall in this one.
[-] Too bad story-wise this movie is just a rehash of its predecessor.
[-] It’s like they only had the option to put a maximum of 5 good lines into the script, and gave those all to Jeff Goldblum. Giving the rest of the cast not much to work with. I mean, couldn’t they come up with something better than “Make them pay” or the cliché’d disaster movie emergency call “I want you to pack your things and go to your sister”.
[-] Honestly, the first movie wasn’t very surprising, plot-wise. But Resurgence is so damn predictable, it’s not funny anymore.

Verdict: 4 out of 10

Machiel Hulsbosch