In the first INDEPENDENCE DAY Will Smith was sucker punching aliens, Jeff Goldblum was uploading a virus to alien computers, and Brent Spiner was, well, dead. Now, twenty years later, we've got a follow up from director Roland Emmerich that finds things a bit different than before. This time Will Smith is dead, Brent Spiner is alive and Jeff Goldblum…well, we'll just have to wait and see what his answer is to defeating a much larger and much more sinister invasion than before. Sure, it looks like Earth has spent that time preparing for the "second alien coming", but it's not like the aliens haven't brought everything and the kitchen sink to cause IMAX-style damage on the world. Don't think it could've gotten any worse than the first film's invasion? Take a look at the new trailer then…
"They like to get the landmarks…"
It's always a bold risk to drop a sequel two decades since the original, but man if this doesn't feel like a damn good time. It's got the benefit of twenty years worth of CGI upgrades, almost all the key players back (Pullman, baby!) and looks to tap into that cheesy, thrilling, and awe-inducing spectacle feel of the first film. Here's to hoping they can recapture the magic and spirit of the first, even without Smith. Bonus, it doesn't have Randy Quaid either, so we shouldn't have to deal with an ultra goofy self-sacrifice from the village idiot in the finale…right? Also, we need a new Bill Pullman speech and an overly zealous flight crew member rendering salute. It's just not a sequel without it.
INDEPENDENCE DAY RESURGENCE starts destroying landmarks on June 24th, 2016.