Popcorn

Rating: 5/10 (11 August 2005)

Director Roland Emmerich blends the essential ingredients of the patriotic blockbuster cocktail  loads of action, family values, national identity, religious faith, cool heroes, very recognizable evil, and a happy end.
Any alien invasion movie has the right to be completely stupid and maybe even the duty to be completely illogical. In this matter, Independence Day really delivers. Miraculous last second escapes by an airplane, a spaceship and even a dog, explosions in space, the earth rotating with monster speed, extremely bad aiming aliens who can travel light years and use a doomsday machine only to get tricked and beaten by Jeff Goldblum. Yes, the celebrating-stupidity-list for this one is impressive and at one point we can clearly see the Fresh Prince of Bel Air smacking a guy in a rubber octopus outfit in the desert.
Unfortunately, Independence Day has not much more than that. The destructions of Empire State Building, Capitol and White House do look good on a big screen, but so does a giant marshmallow man. Paul Verhoeven showed a little later in "Starship Troopers" what irony and sarcasm can do in movies with alien enemies. Here we only see fast food simplicity. A big bag of Popcorn.
Besides, a key role in the final victory belongs to a lunatic, saving the world through personal sacrifice in a suicide mission to beat the technically far superior enemy invaders. It's all a matter of perspective.