June 25, 2016 -- “Independence Day” (1996) was a huge box office success, but not a critical success, at least not right away. This sequel, 20 years later, looks to be the same sort of thing, based on the early reviews. It is a cheesy spectacle with a breezy plot that isn't believable, but it doesn't take itself seriously anyway. The fishing boat surfing on the tidal wave scene proves that. This is just a dumb, but fun popcorn movie with lots of action and humor.

The early reviews were very critical, so I wasn't expecting much from this movie. I was pleasantly surprised. The action scenes have a lot of spectacle, with worldwide forces going toe to toe with forces from an enormous alien spaceship, from the same race of aliens that attacked the last time. The acting is also pretty good, and this film looks great in 3D.

Most of the surviving stars from the first film, with the notable exception of Will Smith, are back for the sequel, including the venerable Judd Hirsch (still complaining about a lack of grandchildren) and the late Robert Loggia (who I failed to recognize this time around). Bill Pullman is back too as former President Whitmore, along with Jeff Goldblum and Brent Spiner, who plays the wacky Dr. Brakish Okun.

Two younger actors, Liam Hemsworth and Jessie T. Usher, play young military pilots in the thick of the fight against the invading aliens. Usher plays Dylan Hiller, son of Will Smith's character in the first film. Nicolas Wright, who co-wrote the screenplay for this film, also plays one of the more interesting characters, a bureaucrat who becomes a warrior in a pitched battle against the aliens. Maika Monroe (“It Follows”) plays President Whitmore's daughter, who is also a fighter pilot.

While Monroe and Wright provide good performances and create fairly strong characters, this movie would be lost without the contributions of veteran actors Goldblum, Pullman, Hirsch and Spiner. Another veteran actor, William Fichtner (“Drive Angry”) who usually plays villains, gets to play a general and a political leader in this film. One of the more interesting new characters is a stoic, fearless African warlord, Dikembe Umbutu (played by Deobia Oparei of “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”).

While Umbutu, Whitmore and Oakun all channel their inner aliens to decipher telepathic messages from the aliens, the military pilots fly into the alien spaceship, trying to destroy the alien queen. Do you suppose Goldblum and the other geeks can come up with a last second desperate plan to defeat the aliens? Are you kidding? The story includes a setup for a sequel. Looks interesting. This film rates a B.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2016 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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