Good enough

Rating: 6/10 (9 July 2003)

It's been a long time now since Independence Day was released, and indeed a long time since I first saw it, and I have since seen it at least three more times. Each time I watch it I can't help but enjoy it but, increasingly so, also can't help but laugh at the triteness of it all. While it is essentially a fantasy story about fighting for your life and winning, it is all SO cute, and SO perfect, and SO convenient that you can never take it seriously.
Obviously, it doesn't ask to be taken seriously but there are certain parts that really make you cringe. Firstly, I have to say that, as an Australian, I find it a little ludicrous the central American-ism of it all. Naturally I would assume that, if aliens were to invade Earth, our survival would most likely rely on the US, but I don't feel that the movie deals with the rest of the world in a large-enough scale. It does mention Australia, and England, and the Iraqi desert at times, but only briefly, and completely inconsequentially, and I always think that if they wanted to include them at all, they could have delved slightly more deeply into international cooperation and communication, or otherwise just omit it entirely and just leave it to implication that the entire planet is under threat. As it occurs, the references and brief scenes just come off as tokenism and it's frankly quite annoying.
But apart from that little irk that gets me every time, the film is entertaining escapism. Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum and Randy Quaid make enjoyably unlikely heroes, while Bill Pullman pulled off, to me at least, a surprisingly good performance as the President. And it is enjoyable and it is triumphant and it does leave you with a good feeling, so at the end of the day, what else really matters?
I just thought I'd put my thoughts to the keyboard. Overall, a dazzling special-effects show with a satisfying edge. 3 stars out of 5.