Independence Day – Film Review

Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Vivicia A Fox, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch

Director: Roland Emmerich

Synopsis: After a wave of alien attacks obliterate several major cities of the world, the remaining human forces that survive prepare to launch an assault on the extra terrestrial invaders and fight back.

Review: When a movie features several recognisable landmarks such as the White House, or The Empire State Building being blown to smithereens, then you know what kind of movie you are in for, particularly if said movie is directed by one Roland Emmerich.  A director who has since gone on to make his name with a handful of disaster movies, many of which also feature big global destruction. Disaster movies are certainly his M.O and while sometimes it works, sometimes it really doesn’t (see Godzilla 1998.)

It is on the eve of the Fourth of July and all of a sudden, these colossal sized alien spacecraft appear out of the sky and poise themselves above many of the world’s major cities. Of course, these alien beings aren’t here to play sports with us and be friendly, no they’re here for one purpose, global destruction. Soon enough, they pull the trigger and blow the aforementioned cities to hell, and what remains of the human race, led by the President Thomas Whitmore, must find a way to repel the hostile visitors, and it is certainly an entertaining, but bumpy ride!

With these disaster films, you’re not here for brilliant Oscar winning performances and or well written, well developed characters with gripping dialogue. The main reason you are here is to watch shit get blown up, and Emmerich certainly brings that in abundance. Of course, this can be boring as hell to watch without any substance to it, but there is some substance to it. The iconic shot of The White House being blown to kingdom come has certainly become an iconic moment of cinema, and the action scenes that accompany the arrival of these big bad aliens are very well shot and well handled. The CGI for the alien ships, especially at the time of the release, is also very impressive. You really feel the scale of these ridiculously large ships as they hover over the cities of the world, with many fatalities once the trigger has been pulled.

That being said, you can have things getting blown to bits, and write some interesting characters in there as well. But sadly, these interesting characters are few and far between. By far the most developed, and most interesting characters are David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) a computer expert who may have the key information that is needed to defeat the alien invaders, and pilot Steven Hiller (Will Smith.) It is these two performances in particular that prevent the movie from slipping into just mind numbing action mediocrity, but they are by no means Oscar worthy. Bill Pullman also aids their cause as the President of the USA, but beyond these three, the rest of the characters are largely forgettable, and in some cases, just flat out annoying to watch.

The film’s script does leave a lot to be desired and is a little bloated in places. Certain scenes could have been a lot shorter, and some could have been cut out of the movie altogether to reduce the 2 hour 20 minute run time. Yet the film serves its purpose as a big dumb action movie where the audience should just leave their brain at home, and throw popcorn in their face while they watch the action in all its ridiculousness unfold. The film knows what it is, and it plays on that to great extent. With a fair bit American patriotism thrown in there, as you would expect with a film revolving around an American holiday, you have yourself a cheesy and entertaining 90s action movie!

The action is cheesy but entertaining as hell with great CGI for the time, but a very paper thin script and largely weak characters prevent this from being one of the best action movies of the 1990s