Independence Day - Resurgence: a half-baked remake disguised as a sequel

'They're back'

Set 20 years after the devastating alien invasion of the first film, the alien insurgence has now become a 'resurgence'.

So they're back, bigger ship, better weapons of mass destruction and a thirst for revenge and all.

On the plus side, humanity now has access to alien technology and Las Vegas has been destroyed.

In charge of the next-gen tech is Jeff Goldblum's David Levinson. Transformed from underachieving cable technician to a tech guru, he's now the director of Earth Space Defense (ESD). He's spent the last many years working away in trying to use the alien technology to rebuild the planet, fix the environment and prepare a defence if they ever return.

Many other favourite are back: Bill Pullman's President Whitmore, Judd Hirsch's Goldblum Sr and Brent Spiner's Dr Brakish Okun (who wakes up from a coma after 7,300 days, we're specifically told).

A quick, clunky reference to Steven Hiller's death in the opening minutes explains Will Smith's absence. Hiller is replaced by his son, Dylan (Jessie T Usher) and Dylan's former best friend from the flight academy - Jake Morrison (Liam Hemsworth).

The big call to arms this time falls to President Lanford (CS:NY's Sela Ward), America's first female president.

That's already a lot of characters to swallow, but there are more. Emmerich must have been hoping that the many famous faces would have as much charisma as Smith had 20 years ago and sadly, they just don't. Despite being part of a Star Wars-style dogfight.

Goldblum is an incredibly comforting screen presence. He's drolly laid back, even when facing ridiculously large alien spaceships as large as the Atlantic. "They like to get the landmarks," he deadpans as the Burj Khalifa gets a little too cosy with Paris.

Destruction porn at its best

When it comes to destruction and using special effects to their fullest, Emmerich shows no restraint. He knows his stuff and we've never doubted that. Everything is bigger. Louder. There's something comforting in his old school style of excess - which we haven't had the pleasure to see from him since 2012.

But even though you're basically left drowning in a spectacular sea of top-notch CGI, there aren't many memorable scenes like when the White House exploded in the 1996 film. Or when Smith punched the alien right on its big, ugly nose. Or when a rooftop full of people get incinerated.

The editing is more than a little choppy in places, almost if the movie has been cut down from a much longer version (thankfully). So even though the third act absolutely enjoyable, it gets there via some terribly clunky narrative leaps.

The verdict

Worth seeing?

If you loved the first, that's a definite yes. It's exactly what you expect, right down to the predictable story beats, the cheesy dialogue and big booms.

But don't go in expecting an improvement though, Independence Day still wins hands down over Resurgence.

RATING: 2.5 out of 5