An enjoyable romp

Rating: 8/10 (11 September 2016)

I'm not a fan of director Roland Emmerich, he is essentially the German Micheal Bay as all he does is make poorly made special effects driven blockbusters without any intelligence or fun. Plus he mad a certain 1998 film so bad I will not mention it by name ( hint-it rhymes with Modzilla). There's nothing wrong with doing spectacle driven action films so long as there is heart and entertainment value. This is where Independence Day comes in, a film that has a lot of charisma and charm. Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith are enthusiastic leads who manage to keep you interested even when something isn't blowing up and the film is fully aware of how dumb it is and therefore embraces it and has fun. As a result the audience has fun too. Obviously you see a movie like this for the spectacle and this film delivers as the effects still hold up even today and the action scenes are exciting and energetic. The first act build up manages to keep the viewer hooked as it climaxes with some of the most outstanding explosions ever caught on film. Followed by a fun dogfight sequence. However the film does stall during the second and first half o the third act with only the alien autopsy being interesting. However once Bill Pulmman gives his patriotic speech the film kicks into high gear once again.