good fun

Rating: 7/10 (13 November 2005)

I like disaster movies which involve cities whose landmarks I can recognise, and especially ones involving stuff falling from the sky. I also like stories involving aliens (regardless of credibility). Therefore, despite various silly bits, I do enjoy Independence Day.
My main criticism: Patricia (President's daughter) does not react to the violence and horror surrounding her. I don't think we even see a tear in her eye. Does she get upset when her mother doesn't reappear as planned? No. Does she get upset when her mother dies? No. Okay, this is meant to be a feel-good movie overall, but as the other characters get into their emotions, why can't she?
My other criticism is the neatness/coincidence factor, where Jasmine stays at the bombed base, Steve goes to the base - ta-da, reunited! And Jasmine just happened to rescue the First Lady. Oh, I bet Mr President was pleased by that! (Does Steve get to be a NASA dude now? He deserves some kind of reward!) I know these points are trivial really - Patricia is not a major character and the Steve-and-Jasmine thing is an important part of the heart-swelling, tear-jerking atmosphere - so I should stop whining and just enjoy the film, yeah? I think the aliens are great - just scary enough, shades of 'Alien' (or rather, HR Geiger) in their design. Also a bit repulsive (the tentacles) so we can go "ewww!" with a clean conscience.
There are probably deep meanings in this film, "a moral of the story", but I can't be bothered finding them. It's a "good guys win" vehicle, with a bit of American patriotism thrown in (they'd have to, given where most of the action takes place). It's good fun, and for this film I don't mind the soppy happy ending.