Independence Day: ResurgenceRachel's Reviews

Today I am continuing in my monthly series of Review Rewinds! This is a new series where I look at old reviews that I am either higher or lower on with the rewatch. My initial reviews are still valid as my initial response but I think it is perfectly fine to grow and change in opinions over time. Here goes:

Minions– Original Score C-. Rewind Score D

I wasn’t very high on Minions when I saw it. In the review I said “it was cute but I didn’t laugh.” My main excuse for the film was that it was ‘made for little kids’ but then I admit “but it has those adult moments which are unfortunate”.

On the rewatch I couldn’t even give it the kid credit because of the lewd humor and the boring story. It just did nothing for me and by the end of the year it ended up on my worst of the year list. The worst thing about it is it just isn’t funny at all and the story is all over the place. I’ve really grown to dislike the picture.

Independence Day Resurgence– Original Score C. Rewind Score D

The most likely candidate for a rewind review is movies I come out feeling meh on. In my original review of Independence Day: Resurgence I said “it all felt a little forgettable and silly but not necessarily in a good way. It just was ok. The acting was ok. The special effects are ok. The story is ok.”

On retrospect that’s just not good enough. I still don’t think ID2 is one of the worst films of last year but it is very boring. It really feels like nobody even tried to make a good movie here and in that regard they deserved all the disdain they got- especially because the original is so beloved to many.

I was pretty critical of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Rogue One but those films are leagues better than Independence Day Resurgence. This deserves a D.

Age of Adaline– Original Score C- Rewind Score B+

I must own I am not finding many reviews I think I was too tough on for this Rewind project. However, one that I think qualifies is Age of Adaline. In the original review I said “it’s fine. I’m glad I saw it but it’s a definite mixed bag.”

I loved Blake Lively as the lead and Michiel Huisman as her hunky love interest. I also praise Harrison Ford and Kathy Baker as “very good” in their roles. My main issues with the movie are the narration, which I still think is horrible as it attempts to “take out the magic and make it about science”. Also I criticize the “dopey dialogue” and that “it would have been nice to see more of her in the different ages”

It’s fair criticisms but I found on the rewatch they didn’t matter as much. I thought Lively was strong enough in the role and the chemistry between all was so good I enjoyed it. Plus, I think there is something interesting about a woman from the 30s confronting modern life- not in a time machine way but in a ‘I’ve lived through it all and seen how we got here’ way.

I think Age of Adaline is worth a watch.

So there are my Review Rewinds for this month. What do you think of these 3 films? Please put in the comments section.

So I had the chance to see the Independence Day sequel today and I will be very curious to read what you’all think of the film- especially if you are a big fan of the original. I left feeling like it was just ok. It’s not horrible but it’s not great either. Here’s my review on youtube:

However, recently I rewatched the first one and was honestly a little disappointed. It’s not as good as I remembered it. It ends well but the first hour and 45 was a lot of standing around staring at screens and talking. It was more boring than I remembered and the explosions felt more repetitive than I recalled. It’s not awful but it was a bit of a letdown on the rewatch.

Anyway, I went into this sequel with pretty low expectations. I just wanted to be moderately entertained and I’d say it kind of achieved that standard. There’s attractive people and some decent special effects. Jeff Goldblum is good and there are moments that are dumb fun.

Unfortunately for me it all felt a little forgettable and silly but not necessarily in a good way. It just was ok. The acting is ok. The special effects are ok. The story is ok. It’s probably the kind of movie that will make a decent cable watch on a Saturday but not worth the $20 ticket price some have to pay these days. But like I said it’s not awful so if you are bored and need something to do you could do worse.

The story recalls a lot of elements from the first movie but none really stand out. Like in this film there are multiple scenes where the band of pilot brothers fight the aliens like the Grand Canyon scene in the original and they are all fine but nothing special. There are at least 2 scenes where a president or former president makes a speech and they are fine too.

One odd thing is characters are eliminated without much mourning or sense of loss in the script. Also certain characters try to provide comic relief and fail miserably. The romance is also very bland.

I don’t want to spoil things but certain moments with the aliens are extremely silly, and I guess that is fun. There are actually different aliens they interact with which I thought was kind of clever and interesting. You see a lot more of the aliens this time around than in the last. You also get a little more explanation of why they are doing what they do.

The destruction is very intense this time around but you expect that in Independence Day movie. I guess I struggle a little bit with these kinds of scenes in a post 9/11 world. They just aren’t fun for me any more but that’s just me.

They also try to get you to believe Vivica A Fox goes from exotic dancer to doctor in between the two movies which seems like a stretch. The special effects in a scene with her are especially bad. Also the actor who plays Will Smith and her son, Jessie Usher, isn’t very good and certainly doesn’t have near the charisma as Will Smith. Liam Hemsworth is ok.

It’s a fine movie but not a good one. I can see having fun with it and I did have some dumb fun but it’s forgettable. Let me know what you think if you see it- especially if you are a big fan of the original. That’s just kind of my jumbled thoughts on this one!

Overall Grade- C