Subject: Retrospective: Independence Day (1996)

From: "Jason Wallis" <[email-masked]>
Date: 8 Jan 1998 17:37:12 GMT

"Independence Day" (1996)

                                     A Film Review by Jason Wallis

"Independence Day" * * 1/2 (out of four)
Starring Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell, Judd
Hirsch, Brent Spiner and Randy Quaid
Directed by Roland Emmerich
     
     Anyone who knows me is aware of my hatred for comtemporary Hollywood.
I loathe almost every big budget Hollywood production I come across.  Oh,
sure, there's the rare exception (i.e. "Face/Off" and "Men in Black"), but
they're mostly just cash-cow crap.  And the only reason these exceptions
are actually good is because of character development or just sheer
cleverness.  Well, Roland Emmerich's "Independence Day" posseses neither of
these qualities.  But I was shocked to discover that, although in a very
guilty-pleasurish way, I actually kinnda dug it.
     Usually, I am not entertained by mere explosions and loud noises, but
the makers of "Independence Day" (or "ID4") accompany all the stupid
explosions and whatnot with some very good one-liners, delivered very
effectivly by the entire cast. I particularly liked (as I'm sure everyone
did) the character played by Will Smith.  I was never a big fan of his TV
show "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" and have never seen nor have any desire
to see "Bad Boys" (mostly because of Martin Lawrence - can't stand the
guy), but here, he shows that he was some real talent that other action
stars like Sylvester Stalone or Ah-nold Schwarzenegger very rarely get to
display.  And when he made the fantastic "Men in Black" the following year,
he proved to the world (or me, at least) that he truly deserves his star
status.  Judd Hirsch and Randy Quaid are also great in their roles, by the
way.
     But, having said that, there are not enough strong points in
"Independence Day" for me to really recommend it.  Many great actors are
wasted in this film, especially Brent Spiner.  Now I've never been a huge
Trekie, but anyone who's seen even a single episode of "Star Trek: The Next
Generation" can see that Spiner is an excellent actor (he even had a cool
cameo in "Phenomenon").  But no, instead of taking a well-written role to
make make a cameo appearence, he has to choose to play the sterotypical
nutcase scientist.  In "Star Trek", even though he played an android, you
could see underlying emotions that not very many other actors could
pull-off.  Here, he just seems like a grown-up asshole trying to be funny. 
     And then there's Bill Pullman, who I'm a huge fan of.  He shines in
almost every film he's in and I think he even deserves an Oscar nomination
for his recent role in "Lost Highway".  Well, here, he sucks.  And it's not
that his acting sucks, it's that his character is very poorly written and
extrememly one-dimentional.  However, you can't really blame poor Bill
because, despite how good of an actor you are, if you're given a bad
character, you can't be expected to perform.  Just look at Jack Nicholson
in "Mars Attacks!".  Even though he's the greatest actor to ever live, he
couldn't get anything out of his character (or characters, in his case).
     And as for Roland Emmerich, he just needs to find a good story to
film.  With his earlier "Stargate", even though the actual final product
was horrible, he showed amazing skill as a director.  
     Oh, and I almost forgot to mention all the people who were calling
this piece of psuedocrap "Star Wars" for the 90s.  Do yourself a favor and
watch it again, only this
time on video.  Just 'cause a movie is loud and shakes your seat in the
theater, that doesn't mean it can be compared to a classic like "Star Wars"
or any of it's sequels.  That just isn't right.
     So, I actually almost-sorta-kinnda recommend "Independence Day" just
for the performances from Will Smith, Judd Hirsch and Randy Quaid and maybe
even for some of the one-liners.  But I still don't see how the American
public can make this one of the top grossing films of all time.  Maybe it's
not up to me to understand...

                 Visit Jason Wallis' "Filmaholics Anonymous" web page at
                    http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Boulevard/7475