Independence Day: Resurgence
Dir: Roland Emmerich
2016
**
Of all the possible sequels to films I have loved growing up, Independence Day is probably the only I've always wanted but never expected. 1996's Independence Day is far from perfect and there is much about it that I loath but it wouldn't be fair of me to refer to it as a guilty pleasure, it's a brilliant blockbuster and the special effects are still good today. It's incredibly watchable and I haven't tired of watching it every so often since it came out twenty years ago. Independence Day: Resurgence had pretty big boots to fill but unfortunately, after sitting down to watch it on the day of its release (in an eerily empty cinema), I couldn't help but wonder if this was really the best scenario they could come up with after nearly two decades? I liked the set up very much, since the invasion of 1996 the planet has unified and has worked together using the alien technology left behind to create a prosperous and flourishing society. They built weapons, spacecraft, advance planetary defenses - the works. There are no more wars and everyone lives in peace. The people of Earth got pretty lucky last time round in defeating the aliens, chances are they probably would come back again and this time with virus protection, so the planet is ready and poised for battle at any given time. At least, they think they are. This is where the story falls a little flat in my opinion. Everything is rushed and happens at the same time, we see how certain other societies have studied, fought and used the alien technologies but we see very little of what the larger, more powerful countries have done. Suddenly the film turns into a very poor episode of the X-Files and justifies the ridiculous by simply saying 'because telepathy'. Certain characters are brought back and thrown away for no real reason, others are brought back to life with no explanation and some of the original actors should have stayed away as Will Smith did. The first film was silly, cheesy, ridiculous but a lot of fun. Resurgence is all that but without the same level of fun as the first. The special effects are fantastic but I didn't think any of the scenes were particularly memorable. The first film is famous for the White House being blown to pieces, for the giant UFO entering into the atmosphere about New York City and the big air fight above Area 51. Resurgence has none of that, we see a little bit of London getting smashed but it's never clear how or why they were in London or how they got back to America's west coast so quickly. I suppose we saw all of the planets other famous landmarks get smashed in the last film, but in one incredibly headache-inducing scene, Jeff Goldblum's character states the obvious and quips 'They do like to get the landmarks' just as we see Tower Bridge collapse on itself in what has to be the years stupidest script so far - and there have been quite a few in 2016. Self-referencing should be avoid always but especially when your film is essentially an upgraded UFO b-movie. I want to give the film three stars but I just can't do it, I can forgive the poor structure, the horrible editing and pointless characters (seriously, what was the point of Nicolas Wright's character?) but I just can't get past the horribly similar ending and the big (not to mention stupid) rip off of James Cameron' Aliens. The story did open up the possibility of a different and interesting direction for the franchise to go down towards the end and it got my attention but please Mr. Emmerich, and please Hollywood in general, get some new ideas and stop churning out the same old stuff, its just not as good as it was first time round.

Independence Day

Dir: Roland Emmerich

1996

****

Roland Emmerich's alien invasion movie of 1996 was the big film of the year. The blockbuster had been forced to up its game somewhat since 1993's Jurassic Park and Independence Day was really the only big competition that followed in the subsequent years. It's pretty much what every 1950's UFO b-movie aficionado had wanted since special effects got really good. The special effects and CGI still hold up twenty years later but the script was already forty years past its best. As with all good blockbusters, Independence Day doesn't take itself too seriously, which is a personal preference thing really, I would have liked a little more realism but the studio stayed safe and pleased the wider audience. Personally I thought the humour was quite well balanced, although some jokes could and should have seen the cutting room floor. Some of the smaller, less important characters were written poorly and were questionably cast. It is generally the script that lets it down. Firstly, being from outside of the USA, I didn't feel the same connection Americans did what with American independence meaning very little to me. The idea and dialogue that comes with the whole Independence Day thing is about as cheesy as it gets. It's one big American patriot love-fest really, the president kicks ass, Area 51 has the Intel and the rest of the world waits for them to tell them what to do. Indeed, there is a scene whereby a British Captain is standing somewhere in the far east, a solder hands him the phone and tells him the Americans want propose a counter-strike and in the best mumbled home-counties voice he declares "About bloody time". It's fair enough though, it's an American film after all and all that stuff is easily ignored. The dog is saved in ridiculous fashion, people sacrifice themselves quite pointlessly and stereotypes are everywhere. I think the thing that bugged me the most were the performances that were both overacted and underacted at the same time. For instance, the beginning sequence, where a young technician wakes and first hears the alien's signal. He overacts by falling all over the place with his mouth wide open but also under acts by being completely unconvincing that he'd actually just heard proof of extra-terrestrial life. In my version he would have thrown up and launched into a thirty-minute monologue about all his regrets and fears, but then that wouldn't have been very family friendly. The way they end up defeating the invading aliens make Mars Attacks! look like a serious drama. The special effects might have been cutting edge but the ideas certainly were not. I loved the old 1950's UFO movies because they were shocking, funny and full of suspense, Independence Day is all that but with amazing special effects, is longer and never held back due to lack of budget or technology. It could have been a hundred-times better than it was but the scene whereby the UFO is revealed still sends shivers down my neck.

2012
Dir: Roland Emmerich
2009
**
I like a big disaster film and they don't get much bigger (or disastrous) than 2012. Roland Emmerich has the big budget and the computer know-how to create visual amazingness....at least for the first 5 minutes. It all gets a little gratuitous after that with planes dodging buildings, underground trains flying out of mountains and an indestructible limousine. Watching the demise of every landmark between LA and China is standard but it gets a little tiresome after a while. Roland Emmerich's biggest downfall (yet again) is the huge pile of steaming schmaltz he covers the film in, running head-first into every action film cliche in the book (the dog survives and even though he turns out to be a nice guy, the step-dad dies because there is no room for him in the family dynamic, people don't split up in Hollywood, someone has to die). Emmerich needs to pull a new trick out of his sleeve, next time he should kill everyone including the kids and especially the dog!

The Day After Tomorrow
Dir: Roland Emmerich
2004
***
Unfortunately for this film (and the viewer) everything is the wrong way round. It starts off brilliantly and then just wilts away. It also gets a little too schmaltzy. The part with the wolfs annoyed me most, it was pointless and the CGI was very badly done which was a huge misfire after all the incredible weather effects. It's an unhelpful attempt at a very serious issue but mindless escapist fun entertainment-wise. 

White House Down
Dir: Roland Emmerich
2013
*
Typical, you wait around for ages for a stupid over the top action mess about the White House being taken over by two dimensional terrorists and then two come along at once. The scene in which Roland Emmerich name checks one of his own films was enough to make me want to throw things at the screen, the fact that he kept having to remind us that the president was Black was something else. I'm surprised he didn't have him save the world while incorporating a magnificent basket ball slam-dunk (he was wearing the right footwear after all!). Some have pointed out that this isn't technically a disaster movie, I have to disagree, it's one of the biggest disasters of 2013.