Watching the first film a day before seeing the second made me realize how I may have not actually seen Independence Day in full in a long time. It's on television frequently and it's such an easy movie to get into. It's an ensemble film that balances serious worldwide destruction with a few gags and memorable interactions that as a viewer you can jump into at any point and still enjoy it for what it is. What comes closest today is probably the Marvel movies, but in Emmerich's series, the characters feel much more human. The original is still about action set-ups and the script is certainly made to move you from one set piece to the other- it's made for the audience to not stop to think too much. It's fun and I would like to think that if released today with the right marketing it would reach a wider audience then a Marvel film (I'm shocked that children like the Marvel movies, maybe it's the imagery of Captain America running with a SWAT team to take down terrorists that makes me think it's too gritty for kids). Then again, in the post 9/11 world, images of buildings being crumbled and sent into the streets have a different meaning. It makes the first alien attack in the original film have an impact that makes me wonder if it was felt the same in 1996 as it would be today.
I'm genuinely surprised that a sequel wasn't made two years later. I wonder if it was because Emmerich and Dean Devlin had the most control/understanding of the property that they and the studio wanted to wait for Emmerich to finish Godzilla, The Patriot and then things change in Hollywood etc. etc. Now 20 years later, a few key players have returned for the sequel in front of the camera as well- Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Vivica A. Fox, Brent Spiner, Judd Hirsch and is that CGI Robert Loggia? This is a sequel that functions practically as a remake/update- aliens show up, worldwide destruction, humans try to fight but fail, humans think of plan, humans fight back again, humans win. The surprise is that it's just as entertaining. Like with the first film you have to leave a certain level of disbelief at the door and just accept the campy moments that are going to come. It's a very 90s style blockbuster but with the sleek look of today's films. The actors are having fun, it's fun to watch and there's very little to fuss about if you have a good memory of the first film. Yes it's cheesy, yes it's loud, but since there is so much connective tissue to the original (all new characters seem to have some sort of tie-in to someone from the previous installment) it feels like a natural extension of the first installment. If you liked that, you should like this.
No comments:
Post a Comment