← Back to Reviews
in
Independence Day
I know, I should have watched something called "Memorial Day" over this past weekend, but I didn't have it available to watch
. In all honesty though, this was the first time that I've seen this movie the whole way through. I've seen most of it scattered over various viewings on TV or catching little bits of it at other places, but as a whole, I liked it better then the bits I'd tried to piece together.
The story is pretty entertaining. Aliens attacking earth are always fun to see, and of course kicking the Alien butt is also fun to see happen. It isn't going to have a ton of depth, which it doesn't, but it is entertaining to watch, which is what a big budget film like it is meant to be (not to say that big budget films can't have more depth, it is just the generally with the amount that is put, of the budget, into explosions and fights, there isn't much left over for plot). A few parts did bug me, characters more so then anything else, but it was fun and entertaining, a better done then most, mindless romp that is enjoyable when one has a fair amount of time to burn and doesn't want to think.
The acting in this film was tolerable. Box office gold, Will Smith, does a good job in his role. He, like normal, is entertaining and very charismatic on screen. The rest of the cast are solid as well, but generally cast in their typical roles. Will Smith is the butt kicker, Jeff Goldblum is the nerdy character, and the rest sort of fall into line as well. They act very predictably, but like I said in the second paragraph, good acting and character development aren't the important things for a film like this one, it is more about explosions and giant CGI space ships. So stereotypical characters really don't hurt this film, they are instead just good means to move the plot along.
Visually this film is impressive, it has to be with it being a large budget film. But big explosions and bigger alien ships are always fun to see up on the screen, and these are done impressively. Even the aliens work out quite nicely. That is what really makes this film, the fact that you can sit back and get caught up in the magnitude of everything, because everything in the film is done on such a large scale.
Overall this is a good, mindless, big-budget action/adventure film, and it is made better then a lot of them are. It is pretty long, so it isn't one of those mindless films you can just pop in on a whim and sit down and watch, because it will eat up a lot of ones day, that is the biggest knock against it though for the type of film that it is.
Overall Grade: B
Story: B
Acting: B-
Audio/Visual: A-
I know, I should have watched something called "Memorial Day" over this past weekend, but I didn't have it available to watch
. In all honesty though, this was the first time that I've seen this movie the whole way through. I've seen most of it scattered over various viewings on TV or catching little bits of it at other places, but as a whole, I liked it better then the bits I'd tried to piece together.The story is pretty entertaining. Aliens attacking earth are always fun to see, and of course kicking the Alien butt is also fun to see happen. It isn't going to have a ton of depth, which it doesn't, but it is entertaining to watch, which is what a big budget film like it is meant to be (not to say that big budget films can't have more depth, it is just the generally with the amount that is put, of the budget, into explosions and fights, there isn't much left over for plot). A few parts did bug me, characters more so then anything else, but it was fun and entertaining, a better done then most, mindless romp that is enjoyable when one has a fair amount of time to burn and doesn't want to think.
The acting in this film was tolerable. Box office gold, Will Smith, does a good job in his role. He, like normal, is entertaining and very charismatic on screen. The rest of the cast are solid as well, but generally cast in their typical roles. Will Smith is the butt kicker, Jeff Goldblum is the nerdy character, and the rest sort of fall into line as well. They act very predictably, but like I said in the second paragraph, good acting and character development aren't the important things for a film like this one, it is more about explosions and giant CGI space ships. So stereotypical characters really don't hurt this film, they are instead just good means to move the plot along.
Visually this film is impressive, it has to be with it being a large budget film. But big explosions and bigger alien ships are always fun to see up on the screen, and these are done impressively. Even the aliens work out quite nicely. That is what really makes this film, the fact that you can sit back and get caught up in the magnitude of everything, because everything in the film is done on such a large scale.
Overall this is a good, mindless, big-budget action/adventure film, and it is made better then a lot of them are. It is pretty long, so it isn't one of those mindless films you can just pop in on a whim and sit down and watch, because it will eat up a lot of ones day, that is the biggest knock against it though for the type of film that it is.
Overall Grade: B
Story: B
Acting: B-
Audio/Visual: A-