Independence Day Reloaded

Rating: 1/10 (31 July 2007)

Independence Day Reloaded
A bit of my background. I am regular reader at IMDb for perhaps 5 years, but this was the first movie that forced me to get registered and write a review of it.
*** Warning. Text below may contain spoilers *** Well, not really, there is absolutely no suspense in this movie and it is entirely predictable right from the beginning.
The movie consists of series of chases and shootouts that are not particularly well choreographed. Plot is virtually nonexistent (in other words there are more of the holes that of the plot itself).
Willis with his sidekick are dragged from location to location without any explanation how and why they got there. The scale of McLane's actions increased with each instalment (first saving the staff of a skyscraper, then airport, then a city and this time the whole country), unfortunately there are 2 issues now. First the whole premise hacking and controlling so many different computer systems is ridiculous, second the threat of terrorists does work at all. They are simply not menacing enough.
They are led by "guy who shut down NORAD just with his laptop", but when they shut down traffic in a big city, all they create is few car accidents (of the kind that can only happen when people are driving with their minds shut down). Other than police department being swamped by citizens (what the hell are they doing there?), not much happens. Cellphones work, it is possible to move around in a car, no real panic visible, no police presence on streets. Especially response to events from both citizens and government is not depicted at all. I would like to know where the hell was the mighty US Army for entire duration of the movie (apparently still tied down killing civilians in Iraq).
There are all sorts of clichés you can imagine: * Computer genius, who is at the same time exceedingly naive at the same time, a bit paranoid, uttering nonsense all the time and absolutely useless (except he miraculously saves the world in the end). * Another overweight computer genius, who is a bit paranoid, uttering nonsense all the time and absolutely useless. * Supermodel/kung-fu bitch crossover female terrorist * Girly main terrorist, who fails to be intimidating at all, he seems he can start crying any minute (I really miss calibre of Grubers or Colonel Stuart). * Terrorist masterminds who personally involve themselves dirty jobs, instead of employing their minions. * Generic industrial locations, which seem completely out of place. * 1960s sci-fi meets Matrix style computer rooms (I recommend sets designer to visit real server room next time, reality may look more menacing than this uneducated fantasy). * Cop chief who always seem to be genuinely busy, but he really does nothing in the movie. * Terrorists have resources to hack stock exchanges, traffic systems and utilities all over U.S. But still, the only thing they can afford to stop a poor cop is a chopper and few not particularly well trained guys with assault rifles.
Cast There are really only two characters in the movie, all other people appearing in the movie are just faceless bystanders (including main foes) and their performance is not any better than of any random bystander watching making of a movie.
Willis' performance is pretty generic, he tries to utter the same kind of one liners as in previous instalments, sadly most of the time they are out of place, badly timed or complete non sense. As the scale has been upgraded so is the McClane's self confidence who became true superhero with some supernatural abilities. Expect projecting speeding cars into helicopters, walking on a wing of a jet etc. This is in contrast with previous instalments where McClane had been smart guy, but still realistic police officer who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Long is genuinely B movie actor. His performance is at best bearable. He might be OK, mindless script does not give much space for his character.
Bottom line: No doubt it is the worst of all 4 Die Hards. I compared it to Independence Day it resembles a bit, but in many aspects ID is much better working. If you like mindless movies filled with explosions, but can do without any coolness factor, then you can try this, everyone else avoid it!
disaster (0 out of 5)