Movie Review: Independence Day (1996)

So going into a movie like this, I was prepared to witness a slow, cheesy flick about aliens who come to earth with one goal in mind: to destroy earth. I was wrong. Way wrong. Independence Day is a 1996 movie directed and somewhat written by Roland Emmerich. Emmerich is a good director. There is no denying that for me. While some of his movies have very successfully tanked there is a decent number of them that are enjoyable and good pleasure movies. Independence Day surprised me because this movie was really good. It's not a perfect movie, but it's really entertaining and does have some moments when you feel for the characters. The film stars Will Smith, Bill Paxton, Harry Connick Jr, and Jeff Goldblum (An ensemble group of casted members that are too long to list in one sitting) and the movie basically explores various characters (air force, scientist, U.S. president) as they deal with an alien invasion. This movie tells the story in a really effective way because if we look at some of Roland's more recent efforts (White House Down) the entire story takes place within one confined location and doesn't really present what is happening as phenomena that effects everybody. Independence Day really pleased me with that. The transitioning between each of the characters is really good and the characters in this movie are surprisingly deep for a movie of this kind. Will Smith is a butt - kicking character in this film. He's one of the coolest guys on screen in this movie and gives a real great performance. Are there any flaws? Yes, this movie does have a couple of flaws that stood out while I was watching it. The first one is that not all of the film feels emotional. There are some scenes where there is emotion, but for the most part there is no real feelings. Any attempt to create emotional depth doesn't reach the heights that I would guess director Emmerich was aiming for. That being said, this is a fun, good, interesting movie that really explores this event from a serious angle. And I was pleased by that. Overall, Independence Day is a very good movie that I enjoyed all throughout the duration of its run. Three stars.