Post by The Curmudgeon on Apr 8, 2007 18:05:17 GMT 2
America Saves The Universe.
It's hard NOT to be cynical watching Independence Day. The flag-waving, U-S-A! U-S-A! uber-patriotism gets a little waring after, say, five minutes, and when THE PRESIDENT gets into an airplane to fight those nasty aliens, you can't help but guffaw in mocking laughter.
All that would be OK though, if the script and characters were up to scratch. But trust me - they ain't. Will Smith is in "cocky but loveable" mode, chomping on a cigar and talking about "whoopin' E.T's ass", he has a doting wife and annoying (or, ahem, "adorable" child), the President's wife can talk and relate to a stripper, the guy from Taxi is in it as the Stereotypical Jew, and Jeff Goldblum is, admittedly, the only good thing in the entire movie.
The effects are awesome, of course, but then you would expect that when a film costs more than the third world debt. Famous buildings get blown up, spaceships whizz around and everything is shiny and nice.. if only they'd bothered to put a story in there.
Again, it's really annoying. With this money the producers could really have given us something to remember (a "Star Wars for our generation", as some dimwit before me put it) but it's just another in a depressingly long line of empty headed, expensive popcorn flicks for stupid people to whoop and cheer along to. Watch Mars Attacks instead - it's more realistic.
