Independence Day: Resurgence (ID4:2)

[Overmind One]

Every review I've read or heard about this flick has been negative. I even heard them talking about it on Coast-to-Coast last night and they said to give it a pass until it makes it to the budget cinema.

This movie flubs it by overdoing everything. It is as if all these studios have to destroy more, blow up more, and make things threaten the very fabric of existence. And it does NOT work. The alien invasion had a much bigger impact in the first movie, and the way the movie unfolded was on a smaller simpler scale and that made it work. I am not sure if I can spoil this spoiled meat of a movie, but suffice it to say we have made extensive use of alien tech in the 20 years since 1996.

Things the movie got right:

• They successfully pull off the alternate earth story where there was an alien attack in 1996 and in 2016, and it does not clash with our reality or the enjoyment of the movie.
• They got a decent replacement for Will Smith in the pilot role. They had a more gender diverse, more multicultural ensemble of characters.
• There was a female President
• The cities which had been destroyed were shown to be part old architecture, part new.
• Dr Okin is back, and he is better than in the first film.

Things the movie got wrong:

• The approach of the ship, the size of the ship, EVERYTHING about the big ass dumb ship.
• The aliens.
• The military
• The pace of the story
• Adding of the Queen alien, along with everything about her and her presence on earth.
• Lots more

The ending is sort of a letdown because it is clearly NOT the ending. The announcement at the end of this movie tells you another one is coming, and that is kind of disappointing.

 

[shavedape]

From what I heard the stuff with the Queen doesn't make a lot of sense. Personally I hate the gimmick of using a "queen" alien in modern scifi/fantasy writing. It's lazy and unimaginative.

 

[Overmind One]

From what I heard the stuff with the Queen doesn't make a lot of sense. Personally I hate the gimmick of using a "queen" alien in modern scifi/fantasy writing. It's lazy and unimaginative.

She makes no sense in this whatsoever. She is in the big ass dumb ship inside her own protected area in the center of the ship inside of a ship of her own within the big ship. She is shielded INSIDE that ship, but for some reason, when her target is detected, she decides to leave the big ass ship in her ship, and at one point she is running across the desert chasing a school bus. WTF? The effects were good, but there was just too much of it.

Spoiler: Spoiler of dumb CGI

London's buildings were literally levitated into the air along with dirt and vehicles and bridges and ships and planes...then dropped to the ground. EYE. ROLL. GROAN. SIGH.

We never get a chance to clearly see the big ass ship. It's too big. Why? It would have been cooler to SEE the damned thing. We just see parts of it.Whose theory was it that these aliens were all killed in the beginning? They were obviously wrong.

 

[YJ02]

Every review I've read or heard about this flick has been negative

yeah--but like om said-or "how's it playing in China?"

that is the new target market for most stuff-if we like it, even better, but i don't think we matter to the studios anymore

another blowback of globalism perhaps--shitty movies that appeal to the action oriented, "we want rambo" asian viewers

 

[shavedape]

yeah--but like om said-or "how's it playing in China?"

that is the new target market for most stuff-if we like it, even better, but i don't think we matter to the studios anymore

another blowback of globalism perhaps--shitty movies that appeal to the action oriented, "we want rambo" asian viewers

JL has a good explanation of the foreign markets earlier in this thread. Turns out America is still the proving ground for ticket sales -- for now.

 

[YJ02]

ticket sales -- for now

yup--for now

just wait until the CHinese come up with their version of an awards show that honors american film;see how many american actors start learning Mandarin and we get to watch US films here, with english captions

 

[Joelist]

yup--for now

just wait until the CHinese come up with their version of an awards show that honors american film;see how many american actors start learning Mandarin and we get to watch US films here, with english captions

China will become more important when they make deals with the studios that increase the studio share of the theater take to a more profitable point. At present they have one of the lowest payout shares to non-Chinese studios and recently tried to levy a VAT on that share to gild the lily.

 

[Overmind One]

China will become more important when they make deals with the studios that increase the studio share of the theater take to a more profitable point. At present they have one of the lowest payout shares to non-Chinese studios and recently tried to levy a VAT on that share to gild the lily.

China is already very important to the studios.

 

[Joelist]

It's important in some respects, but until it reworks its compensation for non-Chinese studios it won't be as important as domestic box-office to the beancounters, who are the ones that ultimately drive things. When the studio gets (before marketing and production costs) 25 or fewer cents for every dollar of box-office in China versus 50+ cents for every domestic dollar their focus on domestic box-office as a barometer of success or failure is understandable.

Lest we forget this same factor is a part of why Batman v Superman was considered such a failure that Warner Bros felt forced to make basic changes to their entire DC film approach.

 

[Bluce Ree]

This movie flubs it by overdoing everything. It is as if all these studios have to destroy more, blow up more, and make things threaten the very fabric of existence. And it does NOT work. The alien invasion had a much bigger impact in the first movie, and the way the movie unfolded was on a smaller simpler scale and that made it work. I am not sure if I can spoil this spoiled meat of a movie, but suffice it to say we have made extensive use of alien tech in the 20 years since 1996.

Things the movie got right:

• They successfully pull off the alternate earth story where there was an alien attack in 1996 and in 2016, and it does not clash with our reality or the enjoyment of the movie.
• They got a decent replacement for Will Smith in the pilot role. They had a more gender diverse, more multicultural ensemble of characters.
• There was a female President
• The cities which had been destroyed were shown to be part old architecture, part new.
• Dr Okin is back, and he is better than in the first film.

Things the movie got wrong:

• The approach of the ship, the size of the ship, EVERYTHING about the big ass dumb ship.
• The aliens.
• The military
• The pace of the story
• Adding of the Queen alien, along with everything about her and her presence on earth.
• Lots more

The ending is sort of a letdown because it is clearly NOT the ending. The announcement at the end of this movie tells you another one is coming, and that is kind of disappointing.

Don't forget to add in the "wrong" list:

• Wanting earth's magma

A completely contrived reason for this invasion. It's almost like they were completely out of ideas and asked one of the staff's 8 year old child to come up with an idea.

 

[Overmind One]

Don't forget to add in the "wrong" list:

• Wanting earth's magma

A completely contrived reason for this invasion. It's almost like they were completely out of ideas and asked one of the staff's 8 year old child to come up with an idea.

Let's see, they passed up Mars and Venus, both of which don't have pesky creatures living on them which previously kicked their asses, both of which have large molten cores. Venus's core is even bigger than earth's, and they came here anyway. LOL. Why did the Queen come with this ship, and why the hell did she take her own ship out and end up running after school buses in the desert? It was ridiculous. And the sphere was not a good reason. She could have sent an army to retrieve it.

 

[Joelist]

I should probably add "illogical" to "incompetent" when describing this movie.

 

[Rac80]

So has anyone seen ID 2?

 

[Joelist]

Yup. There is another thread in here somewhere. It was atrocious.

 

[shavedape]

All the reviews of it were justifiably brutal from what I understand.

 

[Overmind One]

All the reviews of it were justifiably brutal from what I understand.

It was overdone and it isn't over. There will be another one.

 

[Rac80]

It was in and out so fast in the theaters I wasn't sure if it had come out yet!

 

[Lord Ba'al]

I did watch it. It wasn't good. Original was pretty awesome when it came out. This was pretty meh. Still, more interesting than Star Trek Beyond.

 

[Rac80]

I did watch it. It wasn't good. Original was pretty awesome when it came out. This was pretty meh. Still, more interesting than Star Trek Beyond.

the original was great -- and it pissed of the jihadis as well (a black guy and a jewish guy saved the world-- oh how shocking ) definitely a two-fer

 

[Overmind One]

So has anyone seen ID 2?

I saw it, and there is another thread I will merge when I get a chance.