Independence Day: Resurgence
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Independence Day: Resurgence

Generally derided as one of the sillier big budget disaster movies of the ’90s, it’s something of a shock twist that the sequel to Independence Day – only a mere 20 years after the original – turns out to be a surprisingly fun time. It’s still erratic, choppily edited and often fairly silly, but as it mostly spends its two hour running time blowing things up and shooting things down, those flaws can be easily overlooked.

It’s 20 years after the first film, and humanity has used the alien’s left-behind tech to build spaceships, colonise the moon, unify the planet, and generally create a somewhat interesting place for the next wave of aliens to trash. And trash it they do: picking up most of China and dumping it on London is just a side effect of their flying by, though most of their actual attacking involves the same old WWII-era dogfights and bombing runs. Just about everyone except Will Smith is back from the first film, and they pretty much all give stronger performances than the newcomers (aside from Space Jock Liam Hemsworth, who provides some youthful swagger). It hits the required high notes while also being way over the top; it may be cheesy fun, but it’s still fun.

Reviewed by Anthony Morris