Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

Independence Day: Resurgence is built for the big screen: a loud, gleefully oversized sci‑fi roller coaster that doubles down on the primal thrill of watching humanity improvise its way through the impossible. Roland Emmerich stages set pieces with the confidence of a showman—cities buckle, skies ignite, and the action keeps escalating in a way that’s less about realism than about pure, popcorn-fueled momentum. Jeff Goldblum brings a welcome spark of wit and urgency amid the chaos, while the film’s slick effects and constant forward motion make it easy to surrender to the ride. If you want subtle character drama, this isn’t it, but if you’re in the mood for noisy, high-stakes spectacle that knows exactly what kind of fun it’s trying to be, it delivers.

Independence Day: Resurgence is clearly trying to recapture that big, crowd-pleasing disaster-movie rush—bigger ships, louder battles, and a “humanity unites” spirit powered by slick alien-tech spectacle. The problem is it feels like a checklist sequel: lots of characters and plot threads crammed in, but very little emotional weight to make you care who survives the next city-sized explosion. It’s visually busy rather than genuinely thrilling, and the callbacks to the original can come off as desperate instead of earned, especially if you’re hoping for the same charm and character spark. If you just want glossy sci-fi destruction and don’t mind a messy, thin story, it’ll pass the time; if you’re here for wit, heart, or a tight narrative, you’ll probably leave annoyed.