Independence Day released back in 1996 was one of the trend setting alien invasion films directed by Roland Emmerich. The film was largely appreciated for its special effects which were well ahead of its times. Since then Roland has directed more such similar disaster films tasting success in most of them.

After a gap of 20 years, he is back with the sequel of Independence Day. Now the concept of extraterrestrial is 20 years old; will he be offering us anything better? Will the special effects work surpass its current competitors like its original?

Along with Roland, writers like Dean Devlin, Nicholas Wright, James A. Woods and James Vanderbilt have worked on the script of this sequel. In spite of getting help from so much of quality writers, what we barely get from this film is copybook stuff. Looks like the saying too many cooks spoil the broth is true. Nothing much to talk about the story of the film, as it is the same as its predecessor. Everything is just as you expect and there is hardly anything new in it to expect but for the fancy upgraded visuals effects.

Each and every scene is very archetypal and where are the comedies? The odd intended fun scenes just don’t sound funny, did they even try or leave it unattended thinking them as just fillers? The film carries so much of emotional scenes like how Roland’s films generally do but you don’t get connected with it for some reason. They are the routine emotional scenes that you find in every Roland film and maybe that is why you don’t get sentimentally attached to it.

Visually the film looks stunning, but just that does not help a movie to get hooked with it on screen. Neither the story nor the way the scenes flow, inspire you to get excited. Perhaps Roland’s theatricals have gone old school. The all typical happy ending product is just getting too outdated for the audience. Actors have done their bit but when you have a serious flaw in the core storyline, it gets really hard for them to excel on their respective characters. Some of the expressions look way too cheesy.

One other aspect that impresses is the breathtaking background score from Harald Kloser and Thomas Wanker. They have given their best shot to match the grand visuals that were presented on screen.

To sum up things, Independence Day: Resurgence, is an old wine in a new bottle. When it comes to the technical aspects it is far more superior to its predecessor but as a film, this sequel is just a quintessential old school alien invasion drama that must have been 15 years old.