(SPOILER WARNING!!! This article does contain spoilers, if you haven’t seen the movie, just see the first paragraph to be informed without spoilers!!!)

Independence Day: Resurgence is like the first movie but on steroids, but just like your body on steroids, the film starts to decompose from the inside out!!!

Rating: 2.5 Stars

Ah yes, I remember the day when I saw the original Independence Day. It was practically the first disaster and alien movie I had seen. I remember how I was astonished by the action and special effects. When they blew up the White House and the Empire State Building, it really took a toll on me like it really happened. (I was 10 or 11 years old.) What made the movie sweeter was that Will Smith starred in it, and really added some comedy to lighten the mood. When he punched the alien and said, “Welcome to Earth” I got excited. Needless to say, I really enjoyed the film Independence Day. It was a great action movie that probably made me an action aficionado (that could be a good thing or a bad thing). Now that they finally made a sequel, I hoped that they really took their time to make a legit story. However, I lost a little of that hope when I saw the first trailer. I was disappointed that Will Smith wasn’t even in it. So when I went to watch it, I didn’t have high hopes for it. Good thing I did.

What I Like: I do give this movie credit for their action and top of the line CGI. Some of the flying scenes were Star Wars-ish with spaceships fighting each other, and shooting lasers. Director Roland Emmerich does what he does best, and that’s making destruction. Destroying some of the world’s most famous landmarks, but in the least emotional way that failed to impact me like the original. With the action, I made a comparison to taking steroids. They injected a lot of CGI into this movie that made it look great from the outside. It packed a lot of muscle to give you some punch in their action. I kind of liked the part when the new alien ship destroyed a lot more, but barely put a scratch on the new white house. I thought that was pretty funny in an ironic sort of way.

The So So: One of the first flaws that I realized is that the story was very fast paced and rushed. It barely gave any character development and had a brief premise. Once the movie got to their point and settled in, you can enjoy it as they try to plan how to defeat the aliens again. Just like taking steroids, your body starts developing your muscles faster than normal. For the most part, it’s not good for you, and for this movie it didn’t help the story in the long run. The fact is the world 20 years after the first movie is more technologically advanced because they use the alien technology from the first movie to help themselves. They have better spaceships, weapons, and a defense colony on the moon. At first I thought it was a very dumb idea, but once the movie settles it did contribute to the cool Star Wars-ish action scenes. Last, they brought back a lot of the same characters from the first movie like Jeff Goldblum as David Levinson a scientist studying the aliens and their technology, Bill Pullman as former US President Thomas Whitmore, Vivica A. Fox as Jasmine Dubrow-Hiller, the widow to Will Smith’s character and a nurse (it also led to an underwhelming death for her), and they even had Judd Hirsch reprise his role as David’s father, Julius Levinson who still provides funny comic relief. One person I did not expect to get reprised was Brent Spiner as the eccentric scientist Dr. Brakish Okun. If you remember from the first movie, he was the scientist that was brutally used as a translator for the aliens. Since then, he was in a coma for 20 years, and lo and behold, he wakes up just in time for the second invasion. Out of all the characters, I was thinking to myself, why was he brought back and the way he was brought back was just stupid. I mean 20 years in a coma? I would’ve pulled the plug by now. With that said, he was actually a pretty funny and cool character who provided the extra knowledge needed to defeat the second wave of aliens. His eccentricity provided extra comic relief that wasn’t too corny. Speaking of corniness…

What I Didn’t Like: This movie had some of the worst dialogue in movies this year. Some of their jokes, puns, and one liners were so horrific I thought I was watching a bad comedy featuring Marlon Wayans. Throughout the movie I was rolling my eyes over the stupidity that came out of these actor’s mouths. In the first film it was tolerable, but this one was just straight up terrible. I also didn’t like the final action scene where they were battling the giant queen alien. It looked like a monster movie where I expected to see Godzilla come through and save the day. (Then again Emmerich did direct the 90’s Godzilla movie, so never mind.) I thought that scene really changed the tone of the movie for the worse. Just like taking steroids, you starting feeling good at first, but your bones will start crumbling from the inside out and make you turn into a big mess. In the end, this movie was a crumbling mess. I knew this movie wasn’t going to be as good, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad. The writers should be ashamed of themselves taking 20 years to write this mess. I was disappointed, and the fact that they ended on a cliff hanger setting up a possible third movie really just added crap on an unflavored cake.

Overall: The action made this movie somewhat watchable, but I believe it will disappoint fans of the first movie. Good thing my expectations weren’t high, or I probably would’ve blown a top like Anger in Inside Out. The moral of this horrific movie is that if you try to add steroids to make something look better, it may happen for a brief moment before it all crumbles down from the inside out. Steroids are bad for you in every sense of the way!!!

Rating: 2.5 Stars

(Sidenote: The Witch- As you all may know, I’m not a fan of horror movies. However, I make exceptions for the ones with good reviews. This was one of them. I wouldn’t say the movie was scary, but it was definitely creepy from the beginning to the end. I mean they made peek-a-boo, rabbits, and goats creepy as hell. I give credit to new director Robert Eggers some real credit for his direction. What I didn’t like is how slow pace of this movie lost my attention. The payoff was a little underwhelming, and then it got all Satanic and really lost my interest. If you love horror, then I strongly recommend it, but if not, don’t waste your time!!!
Rating: 3 Stars)