Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Liam Hemsworth, Bill Pullman, Vivica A Fox, Brent Spiner, Jessie Usher
Director: Roland Emmerich
It’s the year of sequels and while this one was a long forgotten story, the revival would do it less good and more bad. The story begins fine but before you can even settle in and try to stretch yourself in an empty theatre, the movie begins talking in gibberish. Resurgence is about another major attack on earth by an alien specie that threatens to withdraw our earth’s core and use it as fuel for its own progress. The problem with that logic is that if it were to simply extract minerals, the molten iron core then it could have better visited some other, bigger planet where there were no signs of life and avoided a lot of conflict from the fragile human species. But for the sake of the story we have to assume that it has already exhausted the other planets and we are next in line.
The 1996 Independence Day was an interesting movie, and was greatly helped by the performances, but this one is a big let down. The performances just don’t seem to evolve, and the only saving grace is the visual effects. It’s more like a mix and match of several things, and not in the right proportion. It is only the advanced technology that humans now possess that makes the movie worth a watch. Stories are interesting, and while each one might not be unique or different from the other, it is mostly the story telling that makes one stand out from the other.
Roland Emmerich is not so much of a storyteller; he does not even want to tell a story. He is just busy putting up a show, a spectacle, July 4th spectacle to which no one really is invited. One of the bits where the movie is interesting is the lunar base. Humans have a colony on the Moon, which is equipped with not just survival necessities but also an armed base that is the first line of defence, against aliens. Other than that the hyper speed with which our spacecrafts are now able to reach the Moon is also interesting.
There does not seem to be much attention to detail and most of the storyline is jumpy, one does notice the ease with which the actors find their moment to steal a kiss or have that hug. The world is coming to an end, and all they care about is there emotions. I mean people are dying left right and centre, and is an alien queen running behind and yet they have time and courage to stop and pick up the dog. The movie does not have anything one can believe in, perhaps we have come a long way from the Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds so far that we have forgotten the very nature of emotions, like fear. Fear resides within and not outside, and while the movie is fabulous in terms of its visuals and its choreography; there is no attempt at all to reach the inside.
This movie is an attempt to revive the storyline, and there are announcements for future episodes too. So next year perhaps we would be witnessing another sequel, and now with access to more advanced technology and another helpful alien specie we might be moving further away in the space. It is going to be interesting to see actual science catch up with science fiction though, who would not want to go for a special vacation on the Moon?
The writer is founder, Lightcube Film Society
