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INOUT:FILM
THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK
24 - 30 June 2016
Dropping the deuce: A failed resurgence
INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE
Dir: Roland Emmerich; USA, Scifi/Action 2016, 120 mins; Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Jessie Usher PREMIERED JUNE 23 PLAYING NATIONWIDE
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HEN DISASTER master Roland Emmerich first cast the shadow of Independence Day across our cinemas, it promised 80’s kids like myself something in the region of Top Gun meets Aliens. An entire generation of nerds were united in their anticipation of the cinema event of summer ‘96. What we got was much more divisive. My own recollections centre around the cigar-smoking Will Smith, strutting over to a fallen spacecraft to punch an alien pilot on the nose and utter the immortal line “Welcome to Earth”. While much of the audience were erupting into wild cheers, no doubt the response Emmerich had intended, others were experiencing an acute
AT CINEMAS HAVEN’T we’ve lived our lives for two whole decades without once pondering that which the world lacks - and landing on the answer, Independence Day 2? Speaking for myself, the prospect of a sequel to Roland Emmerich’s alien invasion schlock-fest barely registers as a shrug of the shoulders but I know that view isn’t shared by everyone. With all but Will Smith returning, conspicuous by his absence, find out if he was right to refuse the gig and we were right not to ask for it (and for those who’ve been looking forward, find out if the wait was worth it) in this weeks review. Also out in cinemas is I Saw The Light, in which Tom Hiddleston is brilliantly cast
disconnect from rest of the room. Difficult sell THE PROBLEM then was mainly tonal; Independence Day was heavy on spectacle and light on substance - all of which would be fine if it weren’t for Emmerich’s insistence on pseudo-earnestness. Ultimately the film suffered from an identity crisis - falling between two stools. Emmerich was asking you to invest emotionally in his protagonists while knowingly have them do and say supremely silly things (not least defeating an entire alien fleet while armed only with Windows ’95). Pulling that off would’ve required the kind of tonal dexterity that John Landis’ American Werewolf In London had in spades - a horror comedy that shifted seamlessly between genuinely frightening and genuinely funny. Independence Day wasn’t ‘genuinely’ anything.
INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE
MARK WALKER FILM EDITOR
Boats don’t seem to benefited much from the alien technology in this sinker
whether you wanted to forget it. While Independence Day: Resurgence shares all of the above faults of its predecessor, it is utterly indistinct.
Empty husk PERHAPS the Emmerich faithful would defend the film for its tongue-in-cheek sense of fun (I’m guessing) - but his sequel will surely test that love. Independence Day might have lacked sincerity but it did have character, no matter how amorphous and flawed. It was memorable, regardless of
Finishing off THE CENTRAL conceit is that the characters are living in an alternate 2016 to our own, one where the aliens who were defeated in 1996 left us with alien technologies that have advanced our global defences and allowed us make incredible scientific leaps, ushering in an unprecedented era of world peace. However, unbeknownst to Earth, the defeated aliens
as legendary country-western singer Hank Williams. The film chronicles his rise to fame and its tragic effect on his health and personal life. Unfortunately, thus far, reviews have been less than flattering. Cinemateket (dfi.dk/Filmhuset) has started an excellent series of Film Noir - featuring classics of the genre in newly restored, high quality prints. This friday at 19:00 you can see Jules Dassin’s Night And The City in which a smalltime London grifter tries to become a big-time wrestling promoter and ends up in a world of pain. On Wednesday at 19:00, there’s also Jacques Tourneur’s unforgettable Out Of The Past in which Jane Greer stars as a femme fatale who, with a chance meeting at a gas station, changes the
fate of Robert Mitchum’s station attendant forever. Cinemateket also continues its series on the polish master Krzystof Kieslowski - the highlights this week being A Short Film About Love on Friday at 21:15 and Blind Chance on Tuesday at 21:30. As part of their series on Iranian cinema - Iran 1960-90 - on Saturday at 12:30 you can see the much celebrated Where Is My Friend’s House by renowned director Abbas Kiarostami. And finally, Fik Du Set Det, Du Ville? - is a series of second chances to see the years best films. This Saturday at 21:30 you can see George Miller’s gloriously bonkers return to the franchise that made his name - Mad Max: Fury Road - an absolute must on the big screen. (MW)
sent out a distress signal so that, ever since, a whole new fleet has been steadily making its way across space to finish the job. Melting pot IT’S A WELCOME return for the ever-affable Jeff Goldblum who is joined by Charlotte Gainsbourg, doing her best to lend some credibility to the proceedings - but they’re both undermined by the time spent on prize fighter pilots Liam Hemsworth, the wet white dreamboat and Jessie T Usher, the banal black beefcake. Most of their dialogue is used to give us status updates on the plot.
There’s also a plethora of notso-subtle attempts at appealing to the Chinese market, with the Hong Kong actress and model, Angelababy, being chief among them. She also plays a seasoned fighter pilot which, of course, ticks at least two boxes in one. In fact, Independence Day: Resurgence covers demographics so aggressively that it’s essentially an automated inclusivity exercise with little in terms of gender, ethnicity or sexuality left unrepresented - and watching it is as lively and vibrant an experience as witnessing someone cross off items on their shopping list.
Second Run – Second Chance. In case you missed them, experience 12 of best films of 2015 on the big screen in June and August: ‘The Hateful Eight’, ‘Amy’, ’45 years’, ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ and many more... We present some 50 films with English dialogue or subtitles every month. See what’s on at cinemateket.dk CINEMATEKET / GOTHERSGADE 55 / CINEMATEKET.DK