Movie Review #9365 with Geoff Horne: INDEPENDENCE DAY : RESURGENCE. It's bigger, it's better, it's 20 years later & the badass aliens from the original Independence Day, affectionately known as ID4, are back, this time with a bad mama in tow. No Will Smith, other than in a painting on a White House wall, but Jeff Goldblum, Judd Hirsh & Bill Pulman + a few others all return 20 years older, obviously. In addition, some of the cute kids from ID4 make a return, woven into the story as now responsible grown-ups with histories & hangups of their own. Premise is the same as before however rather than the usual sequel rehash, earth has made use of its captured alien technology & used it to advance some 200 years in 20. One of the hallmarks of the original was a certain amount of corniness interspliced amongst the seriousness of the world ending & Resurgence retains this while reinventing the landscape to accommodate all these new whizbang toys. Sprinkle in the standard heart throb hero in Liam Hemsworth + a comic foil & the scene is set for another rip-roaring boys own scifi adventure which doesn't disappoint on thrills & spills. It's no better (despite what I said earlier) & no worse than ID4, just a bit different & while everyone tries hard, again it misses the mark of achieving true scifi legendary status a la StarWars or even Bladerunner. But, I do hear rumours of yet a further sequel to go and attack the aliens on their home turf & end this threat once & for all. Certainly the final scene supports this but I think the bigger threat is that the money men flog this horse even further & tear down what little bit of scifi legend ID4 has been able to create. 7/10.
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Geoff HorneI'm a movie nut from way back with my first ever being The Hallelujah Trail from 1964. Ever since being mesmerized by the giant screen, the darkness that went on forever & the infernally uncomfortable seats + having to stand for God Save the Queen, I've been enticed ever since to duck into a theatre whenever I can for a few hours of escapism. My favourite movie of all time is Schindler's List, one of only two movies I've ever cried in (the other was Bambi when I was 6!) & I'm a sucker for a damn good comedy; Dumb & Dumber, The Hangover & Death at a Funeral stand out. I'm also a musician and work in IT. I have 4 grandchildren who also seem to enjoy their movie excursions with grandad. I can be reached at geoff@nztester.co.nz. Archives
November 2020
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