I was pleasantly surprised by this follow up/ reboot and hope they don't wait 20 years to do the next follow-up especially by the way they ended it.

Loved that it was action packed throughout and even though it got silly in parts it's eerily similar to the style of "Jurassic World" from last year. Lots of call backs to the original and memorable characters.

It was also great to see the world be so cocky and sure of ourselves only to be bitch slapped time and time again by the Aliens. (Next time don't shoot first and ask questions later )

You will not miss "Will Smith" in this and honestly if he was in it it might have been disastrous. Hemsworth did a much better job replacing his character type and Usher did an amiable job playing the straight man. It's almost as if they split Steven Hiller into two separate characters.

At the end of the day it's better than the original and should have great WOM. Can't wait to go see again this weekend.

I liked the movie even though it had its flaws in the first half. The setup to the sequel/world which they had 20 years is not impressive, even more frustrating is the use or the lack of the use of weapons they built. Plus they only built weapons but not the force-field which still is a big annoyance. The cool things are communication block of the entire world and presidential murder which was the only time I felt that the killings were not hollow or they resonated. All the destruction and murders seem like routine without big emotional connection or lasting effect like the original.

I liked the future sequel(s) setup they have with this movie and the focus shift in the end to the giant queen in the movie which comparatively is much smaller in scope to the ending we have in the original. The molten core stealing was a good filler and the telepathy with aliens looked like a fine addition to me and in sync to the concepts of the original. The giant queen was AWESOME but the trap this time while good didn't come out as good as the virus last time. The visuals are still very very good specially the giant-ass alien ship covering half the world, again still lacking the doom of last movie but that's by design of a sequel so as to not look repetitive.

The acting lacked the purpose and charm of the original though I don't think I missed Smith in this. Hemsworth comes out the best of all because his character is more carefree, Goldblum does his usual shtick, Pullman is here as the serviceable sacrificial goat at the end, I didn't find him particularly great before even the speech delivery which in itself is one of the most memorable things of the original. Will Smith's son is horrible and serves ONLY as eye candy and lacking any acting chops. Charlotte Gainsbourg is really good in the small role she is given, her character needs more exploring and was one of the best new additions this time at female front. Maika Monroe is decent with Pullman and action scenes but only serviceable as the primary female lead. Travis Tope and Angelababy (service to China) provide some decent side story the only one that seems fully developed, Tope in particular comes out very well in his scenes with Hemsworth.

In every aspect this is an inferior sequel to the original, but it does present as a good setup to the sequels and I hope we get more of those. It definitely delivers action which is what you expect from an ID4 sequel and still has good entertainment value on its own without the comparisons.

6/10

The first Independence Day isn't a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but this limp, long-delayed sequel certainly makes it look like one by comparison. I have a soft spot in my heart for the first film due to its cheesy earnestness, and I like most of Roland Emmerich's cataclysmic action movies; they're dumb as can be, but Emmerich usually seems to commit to the absurdity of their concepts while occasionally winking at the audience. Unfortunately, Resurgence never really gets off the ground, and despite 20 years of advancements in visual effects technology, it feels smaller and less urgent than its predecessor. Stunningly, despite being 25 minutes shorter, it sags so much that it feels at least that much longer. The returning cast members are okay, but almost all of the new ones fail to leave any kind of impression. Knocking the original characters as cut-out stereotypes is valid, but at least the actors in that film had enough charisma and screen time to make those characters enjoyable despite the obvious type each one fit into; the same cannot be said for the largely lifeless performances from all of the new actors with the one exception of Deobia Oparei's machete-wielding African warlord - a character so ridiculously cool in his stoic badassery that it feels like he should be in a different, better movie. It's hard to believe that after 20 years of waiting, this is the best the filmmakers could do. My bar was already lowered for this movie because of its standing as a cheesy popcorn flick from a director who excels at making guilty pleasures of such films; even so, the film is still a big, dull disappointment.

C-

Belated follow-up Independence Day: Resurgence is at times so saccharine, overeager, and "cute," it almost hurts. The first film was a seismic event in 1996, earning around 600 million adjusted for inflation and cementing Will Smith as the decade's premiere American star. The sequel will just be another mid- to lower-tier contender in the rote summer-movie marathon, and it feels significantly smaller, too. Its shortcomings highlight the oft-parodied first's quality: it established convincing, even modestly poignant family dynamics (from the First Family to an alcoholic crop duster's dysfunctional brood) and allowed time for a sense of foreboding to mount before lunging for the pyrotechnic jugular. To its credit, the sequel does open with an earnest and interesting idea: in the two decades since the initial cataclysmic invasion, the various cultures and nations of the world have unified and utilized alien technology left behind to both shield and advance society. There are other minor pleasures, too: Jeff Goldblum is not at full power, but still lands a few sly one-liners and remains a singular and endearing actor (the intellectual's action star stranded in a decidedly imbecilic action film), and there are individual moments of awe, such as a Lovecraft-style, Godzilla-sized alien queen rampaging through the Nevada desert.

So much goes wrong, however. A perfectly diverse roster of fresh faces, led by deadly dull stud Liam Hemsworth and Chinese-moviegoer-enticing model Angelababy, compete to see who is the least interesting and most inscrutable in a sequel to a film buoyed by its eclectic and unexpected ensemble cast (Harvey Fierstein! Randy Quaid!). There is also an egregious amount of groan- and wince-inducing comic relief: almost no scene goes by without one or two (or more) moments of suspense-deflating tomfoolery, except none of the new players have vintage Will Smith's ability to sell "I could've been at a barbecue!"-type one-liners. Nearly every attempt at broad humor is strained to an obscene and uncomfortable degree; even Brent Spiner's previously amusing mad-scientist characterization is run into the ground. And, in general, the sequel is simply never particularly involving or suspenseful. It is not unpleasant as it zips and zaps, but we never fear for a character or gasp at the breadth of the destruction or recoil at the alien goo. It is big and brash and noisy without conjuring a genuine sense of enormity or wonder.

C

Independence Day: Resurgence is a very sober and fervent army recruitment film. Substitute your own favorite 'aliens' as the bad guys, and you will soon be joining in cheering for a zealous suicide bomber too. Ooh Rah! And I don't say that as a criticism, but as an accolade to Roland Emmerich's plenteous propaganda skills. Plus it is also a worthwhile entry in the franchise.I didn't think I needed a faithful sequel to Independence Day, but it turns out I did. Now I can't wait to see the third: alien homeworld here we come! *A-*

oh god is this going the Ender's Game route?

A dissapoinyment, it's not a godawful movie but it's just a me movie you see once and that's it, not a crowd pleaser like the original, I felt the young leads were bad, especially the guy playing Miller's adopted son, he was yerrible, there is a scene where something bad happens to him personally and he just flunked badly.
The old leads that came back still had some of that spark left. I also felt the original felt much bigger. And then at the end it turns into a damn kaiju movie...
It ends with the idea of more sequels but that's not happening, maybe as a series on syfy.

So many characters, so few that I actually cared about... Oh, Liam Hemsworth? Your character flaw is that you are too much of a hero? Well that's great. Oh hey African warlord and John Oliver-adjace, you guys are still alive? The movie gets worse every time they step away from Goldblum. Pullman has a good speech too.

But the movie's worst offense is that it can't even deliver one great action spectacle. It's just a bunch of things blowing up. Now I like explosions as much as anyone, but I'd at least like to know what's exploding. We're watching Koreans try to run away from the damage, but then told that we just saw London destroyed. "They like to get the landmarks" they say but I didn't see any landmarks.

So Goldblum and some nostalgic kicks keep this from being unwatchable, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Summer 2016 just can't get the big dumb action movie right.

China was a huge part of building our planetary defenses guys.

Just like the Chinese army will always stand with Hong Kong.

The film often feels like a cringeworthy slugfest, but all in all it still holds on to be a decent blockbuster. It falls very short of the original, although it does have a high nostalgia factor with the most main characters returning. It's dialogue and some sequences are really too silly to give any credit, but the performances of everyone involved are still there. Overall I dislike how the film copies pretty much any element of the original fracture but just put in a different jacket (much like Hangover vs Hangover 2). What I still enjoyed though are the drama between characters, and the pretty stunning special effects. The film didn't leave me bored for second, and I was glad to have revisit the Independence Day universe again for a while. Another sequel I would find unnecessary, unless they're getting a great screenplay and some new A-level cast involved with it. Not to say the some of new cast in this film wasn't good, but they didn't leave their mark either. Hemsworth surprised me with his performance and was totally serviceable. Maiko Monroe was great, and the other pilots formed a nice band to follow.

B-

I'm struggling to think of a worse looking special effect in a major summer blockbuster than the alien goo on the school bus. And probably the most needless usage of CGI too.

This movie is hot, stinkin' garbage. It's nonsensical, monotonous and, worst of all, incredibly boring. The first movie is beloved even though it's not really that good. However, it is an absolute masterpiece compared to this mess. There are many, many paper thin stock characters you won't care about. It doesn't even really have the awesome sequences of disaster that the first one did, other than a blink and you'll miss it destruction of London. D

Independence Day: Resurgence

What a load of drivel. Clichéd rubbish with a screenplay taken from so many other films, and not a genuinely interesting performance, visual effect, joke, or scene in the entire film. Blatantly made for the Chinese but still with the overbearing tackiness of the gung-ho Yank and its in-your-face patriotism. I loathed this movie.

F

I can't believe what a disappointment this was. This reminded me of BvS. It's like they started production with an outline of a script, not an actual finished one just to get the thing made as fast as possible.

I think I'm most disappointed by the score. I can't believe the same guy came back. The first's themes were fantastic and a character of their own. This is so boring. Also Smith made one of the best calls. He easily would have been #1 target of criticism had he been involved. I'm sure he would have elevated it (Especially Fox's demise), but nothing could make Queenzilla or the Little Girl alien sphere thing not stupid as hell.

Goldblum and Pullman are the only things that really work here, and that is a shame. They deserve a lot better than this. I wasn't bored while watching it, but it was close to a chore with all the stupid throughout, and so many inconsistencies from the first film, or even this sequel's supposed logic.

David Arnold scored the first movie. (He also scored the Pierce Brosnan-era 007 films.) The music for the sequel is by Harald Kloser and, lol, Thomas Wanker.

Neither have done much of note besides other Roland Emmerich films from The Day After Tomorrow onward.

Ah, I see now, I guess he was just credited for the "earlier themes by" that were rarely used. Score is fucking awful.

Truth.

Bringing back some of the original's underrated soundtrack would have been one of the easiest ways to really nail some of the suspense and build-up, but this film did not appear to have any interested in those kind of things. Just non-stop movement to the next action scene.

But then again, I don't see any way this sequel could have been set up for success. Independence Day was all about firsts - our first (well, kind-of) encounter with aliens, the first destruction of our cities, the first time fighting together as the world. Nothing special is really left for the sequel.

Also - how was London and France not one of the destroyed cities in the first??

Well they rebuilt the White House as if nothing has happened. And it's secondary destruction is just lame. I just saw the original yesterday, The Eiffel Tower is clearly on one the screens where an attack was about to happen. The Destruction here is just so awfully muddled together. The little ship goes from somewhere in Asia to London in a matter of minutes. Also the whole "What goes up, most go down" really isn't anything more than the trailer showed.

They dropped the ball waiting so long. In The first Pullman after being attacked in the mind clearly states "They move together as a whole from one planet to the next" There really were no others. The most interesting idea is them having to deal with the leftover aliens from the first for a few years. That sequel would have been much better. The more I think of this film is just how awful it is. And the Alien guns???? Not to mention the Queen having a huge version of a gun and all of a sudden a force field. They say none of their technology has advanced, yet we have a force field and have chose never to turn it on. That shit should have been priority number one and been like the one in Spaceballs.

I think the almost destruction of the 2nd White House, or the gentle nudging as I saw it as, was so baffling. It's almost a perfect symbol for the entire movie.

I think that was intentional because destroying the White House yet again would be seen as ridiculous. I tink Emmerich wanted people to smirk at the nudge.

Which I did, and thought was one of the better moments of self-awareness in the film. The film falls flat often, but as a blockbuster stands upright enough for me to enjoy. I prefer it over any Transformers, aside from maybe the first.