by Dai » Sat Feb 08, 2014 8:46 am
While I'm not opposed to an ID4 sequel, I don't see what it can do to be anything other than forgettable. The cinematic landscape for SF has changed dramatically since 1996. The movie worked at the time because it tapped into the mid-90s zeitgeist of X-Files-fuelled alien conspiracies and end-of-the-century apocalypse-mongering. It was also among the first movies to obliterate iconic buildings in such convincing fashion, which was perfect trailer-bait. Viewed now, it's just a big, dumb b-movie with an over-inflated ego and a poor sense of humour. It retains some of its spectacle, and the tension of the first act is still pretty effective, but it wouldn't stand out from the crowd among modern tentpole movies the way it did on release.
Since then, we've seen the alien invasion as insidious experiment in Dark City, the alien invasion as cutting satire in Starship Troopers, the alien invasion as disaster survival movie in War of the Worlds, the alien invasion as straight military operation in Battle: Los Angeles (the closest in tone to ID4, and also a movie that failed to set the box office alight), the alien invasion as live-action cartoon spectacle full of beloved characters in The Avengers, and that's just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Unless the new Independence Day can do something to set itself apart (I don't think being laughable will cut it), it's going to flop hard.