MOVIE REVIEW: Independence Day 2: Resurgence (2016)
I had the pleasure of watching a live-action anime movie, called Independence Day 2: Resurgence, a sequel to the movie Independence Day (aka “ID4”). It was like watching a real-life MACROSS — attractive young people piloting high-tech space fighters against an invading alien spaceship. I understand Chinese popstar Angelababy was in this movie; if she had been singing, it would have been that much more anime than it needed to be. As it was, the movie was not only the wildest live-action anime I had seen this side of Space Battleship YAMATO.
To get us ready, a spacecraft arrives near the Moon 20 years after the War for Earth — an Earth where we still have different countries but our government works together despite having access to alien tech that could kill every human on Earth with the flick of a switch. The moon base is run by the Chinese and operates under Earth Defense Forces (EDF) jurisdiction. They have some non-Asians on-site, one of which is Liam Hemsworth — a cocky fighter pilot who almost got one of his teammates killed. As punishment, he now drives space tugs and installs mega-lazers. As consolation, he’s engaged to Maika Monroe, the actress playing the former American president’s daughter. The actress who originally played her, actress Mae Whitman, did not return. Neither did Will Smith…but many other actors did, to get your butts in the seats if the explosions didn’t work.
Fresh from a stint of Apartments.com ads, Jeff Goldblum came back to save the world. His father, Judd Hirsch, sold a book over the past 20 years saying he was the one that saved the world (this part of the movie is ultimately a B-story that involves kids, dead parents and shitty science about tsunamis put on film that nobody cares about). Vivica A. Fox is back, and she’s a doctor after the events of the last movie — she got off the pole and became a doctor, which is positive and AWESOME. Brent Spiner’s back as the white-haired scientist guy, the late Robert Loggia makes a cameo, and OF COURSE Bill Pullman was down to clown. So many people came back for this movie, but many others did not, like the original actor for Will Smith’s son.
This character is now a hotshot EDF pilot, played by Jessie Usher. He is the leader of “Legacy Squadron”, a collection of EDF pilots from all over the world flying “standard issue” fighter jets. “Standard issue” in this case means “filthy with plasma cannons, VTOL anti-gravity tech, and capable of trans-atmospheric flight”, which technically makes them “aerospaceplanes”. When he stops off at the EDF Moon Base, he meets up with the guy who almost killed him — Liam Hemsworth. Not a fun meeting, but it’s OK since these two pretty people need to be together to stop the alien invasion. Lots of people die during the invasion, cities are leveled and washed away by previously mentioned tsunamis, and it’s just over for humanity. Interestingly enough, the one place where people thrived in the wake of the alien invasion was in the Congo.
It’s not said which Congo (Republic or Democratic Republic; it’s complicated but both are African countries in central Africa), but the Congolese know how to fight some aliens. It was a bright star in the world of Hollywood which portrays Africans as purely negative or unbelievably magical on almost every setting. This imagery might look the same to many (re: African warlord rules through might but keeps the trappings of colonization close). I find the idea that it was Africans fighting successfully to save Earth and achieving a degree of psychic powers while doing it to be pretty cool. It’s a nice touch on a movie that didn’t really need to exist as a sequel to a 20-year-old sci-fi flick.
When I heard about this live-action anime happening, I said, “Twenty years later? This movie better not suck!” It did, and I am both disappointed and amused. It was funny for being such a serious movie about immense losses to humanity, and I’m not talking about the butt jokes and pee-your-pants-in-fear jokes for the international audiences. What made it funny for me was how little each death meant to the movie, regardless how many died (even the parts with teenager Joey King crying about her dead boyfriend). This movie did not give me time to care, as its cuts were so quick the camera barely had time to register a death before we moved on to another action scene or “important” scene. There was one scene that should have meant so much more due to its implications, and was glossed over so fast (that’s why I’m disappointed) that maybe the name “Independence Day” should have been reduced in the title.
This movie would have been better served being called RESURGENCE: Independence Day 2, because so little about why the line “Let’s show ’em some fireworks” means something remains in the sequel. Yes, it was said in the first movie, but it meant something to the American audience that watched: it was about Independence Day, July 4th — where we celebrate our freedom from Imperial British oppression. We Americans do this by burning meat, either by charcoal or firework discharge. We Americans are free to kill ourselves, each other, and animals with reckless abandon, and THAT’S what made the first movie work — we Americans kill that which is other (down to the last man), and make it look like righteous self-defense and we Americans like those movies. #murica. The sequel gets rid of all that American-themed murder (the sequel opens June 24th, about one month before the original film’s July 2nd release, and folks can’t even watch it on a proper Independence Day with the current speed of theater turnaround and DVD/downloads sales), and nearly makes it a purely human affair.
It doesn’t matter if the fictional futuristic American president was assassinated by alien invaders, it doesn’t matter if the previous fictional president lived or died (hello NSA; please note the emphasis on the word fictional). Independence Day: Resurgence is not about America. It’s about the possible future Earth has if we band together and stop fucking around — the kind Martin Luther King would imagine. I say that because we have to do better; we MUST do better. A bunch of multi-racial and multi-ethnic people fighting to save the world TOGETHER is a pretty good indication where we can start.
Don’t be confused; this movie DID suck.
This review is dedicated to the memory of Mr. Moseley, U.S. Navy, (Retired).
— previously published 6/29/2016 on Facebook Notes —
