'Independence Day 2: Resurgence' review: Supersized new alien invasion— but where's all the cheese?

Film: Independence Day 2: Resurgence
Director: Roland Emmerich
Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Liam Hemsworth, Bill Pullman, Jessie T Usher, William Fichtner, Maika Monroe —

What's it about

It's 2016, 20 years post the events of that 1996 blockbuster called Independence Day. The world has moved on, unified and achieved world peace. We have a defence station on the moon that monitors all space activity and we've cannibalised all captured alien technology to make ourselves more adept at defending ourselves. Well, that's the general idea, anyway. So, you'd expect the leader of the free world to be a little less trigger-happy when presented with a new unidentified object that just warped through time and reached the moon and presented no imminent threat. This, despite a well-meaning David Levinson (Goldblum) advising the President (Sela Ward) to wait and watch. But no, trust them to shoot first and ask questions later.

Of course, they miss the ball and when the real threat comes their way, they're totally unprepared. The new alien invasion just got supersized. Like crazy huge. Turns out the 1996 spaceship was tiny compared to this mothership.

Expect the same old run, hide, regroup, fight back, save lives and eventually, the world.  And sooner or later, a sequel.

What's hot

There's a new world to play with. A more evolved Earth. Space travel. Better tech. Better communication. The updation sits easy with Emmerich's vision. A few familiar faces from the first movie share space with a lot of new ones. Goldblum has been a joy to watch ever since the mid-80s, if you were a sci-fi fan. Though, it was in the 90s that he lived his glory days. His dour, no-nonsense return to the franchise (we can call it that now!) as David, gives it the respectability we wouldn't afford it otherwise. Pullman's here, too. And while, he isn't in the White House, anymore, he still commands the same respect they gave him two decades ago. They call these legacy roles for a reason. Among the new faces you'll see going forward, Hemsworth gets the most screen-time. We loved Deobia Oparei as the deadpan katana-wielding warlord Dikembe Umbutu and we'd like to see more of him in a sequel.

What's not

You'd think Hollywood would've evolved in all these years. Gainsbourg is published psychiatrist and extraterrestrial expert Catherine Marceaux here, but as a former flame of David's, has precious little to do. Her 'genius' is propped up by books used as props in scenes. A talented fighter pilot Patricia Whitmore (played by Maika Monroe) is relegated to being a caregiver and a fiancee-in-waiting. The President of the free world might now be a woman (Ward), but apart from making bad decisions and (spoiler alert!) dying too soon, giving speeches and pulling aforementioned trigger, she barely even registers. Joey King's big sister role gets pushed to the passenger seat because of Judd Hirsch's kindly insinuation that he take the wheel because she can't control her emotions. The women in Emmerich's films might have evolved, but not on par with the technology and the effects. 

That being said, one seriously misses all the cheesiness the original film had. It's almost like they were keeping the fun elements on a leash. And that great Bill Pullman speech is absent. Neither Ward, nor William Fichtner after her, have that charisma. We seriously missed Will Smith in this one. Jessie T Usher, who plays his son here, is a bore. 
And last, but not the least, some scenes felt a lot like a lot of alien invasion and disaster flicks over the past two decades.

What to do

It's a well-made product. I'll give it that. For some audiences, it pushes the right buttons. For those who watched and loved and caught the reruns of the first film over the years, will feel it is too little, too late. But we're hopeful. Also, we're not on a diet here! Bring on all the cheese!

Rating: ***