Official trailer for Hollywood movie Independence Day: Resurgence (ID:R). The scifi action disaster film is a sequel to Independence Day, which was the highest-grossing film worldwide in 1996.
Directed by Roland Emmerich (director of the original film), ID:R stars an ensemble cast of Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Maika Monroe, Jessie Usher, Travis Tope, William Fichtner, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Judd Hirsch, Brent Spiner, and Sela Ward. In theatres June 2016 in the United States.
Chinese actress Angelababy also has a small role and appears for half a second in the teaser video.
It’s been too long since I last watched the original movie; can’t remember the details but always thought of it as a good film. The sequel will have a tall order to match, the CGI looks decent in the trailer but can’t tell much in other aspects. Most of the main cast have returned with the notable absence of Will Smith.
Going to give it a go for nostalgia sake. The filmmakers obviously bank on people like me with that sort of mentality. Box office success is almost guaranteed unless they screw up real bad.
Updates & verdict
I watched ID:R in the first week of release. The special effects are decent but the actions are sometimes messy. Other than that… average plot, average acting, and many scenes are borderline stupid.
Didn’t expect myself to say this but the movie misses Will Smith. I was being kind to say that the acting is average because it’s the veterans who pull their own weight, the new ones need to improve a lot.
Perhaps they made this with young audience in mind (I mean the kids), or perhaps I am too old to indulge in these big budget summer movies anymore. Feels like I have to dumb-down to watch films like this.
And they are planning to make another sequel if they do well in the box office. Please don’t.