A Sci-Fi Classic? Hell no!!!

Rating: 4/10 (18 March 2010)

Independence Day is a very interesting title for an alien invasion movie. In fact the 15-mile wide ships are also an interesting concept which is the only intriguing aspect of ID4! Will Smith's Capt. Hiller adds a humorous twist, but he's unconvincing as an Air Force Captain. He's like the Fresh Prince with a rank in the service. Overall ID4(why they call it that? I don't know), it's not worthy of my calling it a "film". It's a movie and a rather clichéd one at that. Like the Michael"Ka-Boom"Bay version of Transformers 11 years after the fact, it's a bombastic disaster movie that's the mid-1990's rendition of the Posideon Adventure, Airport, and Earthquake right down to the token multi-vocational, multi-ethnic cast. Some critics and viewers see as a cinematic display of American jingoism and arrogance. I think they're right on the money with that sentiment. Why should only the USA be the only nation of people to stand up to these creatures? Why should the USA have all the answers. Why couldn't Japan, the UK, Canada, or even Australia have the answers!
Instead of original characters we're exposed to token ones that are a rehash of characters from their other movies. For example, Jeff Goldblum is clearly re-enacting his Dr. Malcolm/Jurassic Park phase. But, that's not the reason why I don't necessarily like ID4. I don't like it because all the alien ships seem to do is destroy famous landmarks such as White House and the Empire State Building. They just kill for no reason other than the thrill of killing humanity(very vague if you ask me!)It's most clichéd because its tired message of "humanity must work together in peace" Oh brother! Independence Day is nothing but "boom" bang" "BA-DOOM!" There is no thoughtfulness and intelligence just...absurdity. This example is bringing down the alien empire with a simple garden-variety computer virus! A friggin' computer virus are you shitting me?!" How the hell do these people know that the alien ships aren't immune to such electronic contamination?! These are extra-terrestrials we're talking about, here! The next example is the psychically destroying the ships with thermonuclear weapons. What? Hasn't Emmerich ever heard of EMP, nuclear fallout, and atomic shock waves?! Unbelievable.
If you are going to make a movie about aliens invading Earth, do it with thought, pizazz, and a better f&*king reason to raze the cities of the Earth other than just for the hell of it!!! Seeing million of people cram the highways at the last minute is a stupid sight in itself. Haven't we seen this before in the movie the Day After and Earthquake? Let's do something different other than a resurrection of 70's melodrama. In conclusion, Rolan Emmerich is just as bad as Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay only he brings the absurd doomsday element into his movies. People like him and his contemporaries must be stopped!