Okay, WHY exactly does everyone hate this film?

Rating: 10/10 (7 April 2004)

This is the ultimate "Us VS Them" epic. How can you hate it? It has great special effects, great music, plenty of humor, and characters who are more sympathetic than most. It's meant to be FUN people. And it's a hell of a lot more fun than those crappy Star Wars prequels.
As usual, Jeff Goldblum is the scene stealer as a quirky genius, and Will Smith does his usual tough, smart, funny persona bit. Bill Pullman is alright as the President; his wife is played by the lady from "Dances With Wolves". Judd Hirsch is fun as Jeff's dad.
Sure there are problems with the plot - the fact that this all happens in the pan of 3 days is ridiculous. Maybe there are too many characters and maybe the film is long, but this isn't a terrible crime. The film isn't BAD. The destruction of the cities are well done and the climax is rousing in the tradition of the classic Star Wars trilogy.
If you want a really bad science fiction film, go watch the above mentioned Star Wars prequels, "Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones".