Film Preview: Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

Page Revisions:

(December 20, 2015) Original
(May 1, 2016) New Trailer (#2) / New Posters (#1-#8)
(May 29, 2016) New Trailer (#3) / New Posters (#9-#12)
(June 19, 2016) New Poster (#13)

Release Date:

June 24, 2016

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “Two decades after the first Independence Day invasion, Earth is faced with a new extra-Solar threat. But will mankind’s new space defenses be enough?”

Poster Rating: B- (8) / D+ (4) / C+

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOW
Review: (#1-#8) These eight posters are almost identically designed. The language varies for each poster, as does the positioning of the globe and therein likes the creativity of the designs. They remind the viewer of the first film’s posters, but don’t do anything too fresh otherwise.

(#9-#12) There’s a throwaway line in the trailer, which hearkens back to the original film’s destruction of the U.S. Capitol, about aliens always going for the destruction of monuments. It was something a lot of films after tried to copy with minimal effect. That it’s used here for four posters isn’t a shock, but apart from the various ways the ships are positioned on the design, the superimposition and crappy effects used to destroy the monuments in the poster make them almost purely awful.

(#13) What if the people the revolutionaries were fighting in Les Misérables were aliens? That’s what image this poster conjures in my mind.

Trailer Rating: B- / C+ / B+

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOW
Review: (#1) I really don’t think anyone asked for this sequel, especially not 22 years later. However, they’ve used the passage of time as a storytelling device and brought back a handful of the original cast, which ties it in fairly well. Unfortunately, unless you were a fan of the original, this new trailer doesn’t tell you much more than that there will be quite a bit more visual effects and that it doesn’t appear to be very heavy on plot.

(#2) Trying very hard to remind audiences of the first film, this trailer acts more like a funeral recitation than a rousing bit of action adventure spectacle. That’s what will be needed to pull audiences back to the theater, not this. They stakes are mediocre at best and the destruction looks like it could be cool, but there may just be too little of it.

(#3) What we didn’t want from this film was a retread of the original. This trailer suggests something a bit more compelling, a bit more contemplative, but a whole lot more effects heavy. It should allay the fears of the many who were worried about the film’s potential quality.

Oscar Prospects:

The original won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects and it was nominated for Best Sound. This film could gain the same level of support, but without any major monuments to destroy, it might be trickier.