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'Independence Day: Resurgence': Oh No, Not Again
By Michael S. Goldberger, iBerkshires Film Critic
02:52PM / Thursday, June 30, 2016
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Jeff Goldblum and Liam Hemsworth look into the maelstrom of another Independence Day.

In one scene of director/co-writer Roland Emmerich's "Independence Day: Resurgence," brainy scientist Julius Levinson, played by Judd Hirsch, berates his equally brainy scientist son, David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), thusly: "So, it takes the end of the world for a son to visit his father?" It is but one of a long list of clichés the filmmaker surmises would attend a planet facing Armageddon at the hands of alien beings. Uh, well, more correctly, it's not at the hands of, but at the tentacles of, which of course is much scarier.

Skipping my usual diatribe and head-scratching inquiry as to why folks would want to see a film about our threatened extermination in the first place, the good news is, if you endure the cartoonish depictions of this second coming, a third is currently in the works.

That means humanity is safe for now. If we hear no distant signals from the outer space climes of Hollywood about a fourth episode, we'll worry. Meanwhile, those among the original film's survivors who got the money they wanted are back to fight the good fight.

That means no Will Smith, and no strong central figure to replace him. Instead, we get a string of obscure complications that speculates ad nauseam about how these octopus/pterodactyl monsters have summoned the ability to stage a counterattack 20 years after their assumed defeat. Both the lay viewer and the techno-savvy are bound to see it as a lot of rigmarole and blather hardly worth their suspension of disbelief. As Mr. Spock might observe, it simply "doesn't compute."

We are thus relegated to appreciating the very latest wizardry in special effects, compromised by an almost equal amount of silly jargon, which some cynics may suggest is a microcosm of our current state of affairs. Purposely or not, Emmerich's screenplay, aside from its inundations of cyber-babble, emulates the naïve, paranoid sensibilities of the McCarthy Era sci-fi films. Alternately campy and just plain odd, it makes us wonder what, besides the filling of coffers, Emmerich hoped to achieve.

At the heart of the nerdy postulations, it's just a traditional love story with a bunch of soap opera sentiments that might please those poor viewers dragged to these proceedings by their geeky significant others. Liam Hemsworth is handsome hero Jake Morrison, fighter pilot extraordinaire, beloved by Maika Monroe's Patricia Whitmore, daughter of former President Whitmore (Bill Pullman) and a darn good jet jockey in her own right.

But drat, there'll be no sailing off into the sunset until these love-smitten kids are assured that the Earth will survive to see those sunsets. Complicating matters, there's a big megillah attendant to Jake's feud with fellow pilot pal-turned-adversary, Dylan Hiller (Jessie T. Usher). It's obvious the world can't be saved if these two guys aren't talking.

Plot-wise, the dashing flyboys are merely the requisite eye candy ... the Errol Flynns of their generation. They wear cool aviator clothes and swagger like there's no tomorrow ... which will be the case if they don't prevail. But this isn't the place to find thespic standouts. The few good performances are contributed by the movie's older folks, the character actors who say the darndest things and remind the younger target audience of their funny, oddball uncles. Goldblum and Hirsch fit that bill.

Supplying a similar bit of sentimentality whilst providing comedy relief is fellow scientist Dr. Brakish Okun, played by Brent Spiner, who, through a whole lot of esoteric, sci-fi voodoo, has imbibed and downloaded smatterings of alien lingo and thought.

Reminiscent in appearance and in the happy franticness of Donald Duck's inventor friend Gyro Gearloose, he represents the idealistic notion that what this world needs now is a shrewdly benevolent brainiac, and not some wacky, calculating tyrant in waiting.

The rest of the political metaphor indiscreetly tossed into the mix includes a lady president (Sela Ward) who, by golly, isn't afraid to push the button. But the bulk of the movie is, in essence, a showcase of the very latest, cutting edge graphics. You know ... it's the stuff that wins Oscars for the brilliant eggheads at the obscure awards presentation that was "held earlier." Too bad their creations can't surmount the panoply of warmed-over ideas. Shiny new pixels or not, this is production line filmmaking at its most blatant.

The result is rather nutty and off-kilter, part commercial blockbuster, part creative vision gone awry. Hence, evaluating its viability brought to mind a "Flash Gordon" episode where, faced with humanity's extinction if he doesn't thwart the approaching evil forces, the archetypal astronaut gives it a little thought and then says, "Well, I guess it's worth a chance?" Undeterred viewers who couldn't care less what the critics say, might feel the same way about seeing "Independence Day: Resurgence."

"Independence Day: Resurgence," rated PG-13, is a Twentieth Century Fox release directed by Roland Emmerich and stars Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman. Running time: 120 minutes

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