Directed by Roland Emmerich (Independence Day; The Day After Tomorrow; 2012; Godzilla; White House Down) and starring Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games; Empire State; The Expendables 2), Jeff Goldblum (Independence Day; Jurassic Park; The Grand Budapest Hotel; The Tall Guy), Bill Pullman (Independence Day; American Ultra; The Equalizer; Sleepless in Seattle; A League of Their Own) and Sela Ward (Gone Girl; The Day After Tomorrow; Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights).
Action adventure, 120 mins, 12+,
Set 20 years after the original Independence Day (1996), President Lanford (Sela Ward) is celebrating 20 years of world-wide peace and collaboration since the failed alien invasion. Young Jake Morrison (Liam Hemsworth) is an Air Force pilot on a mission at the moon; however, having adopted technology after defeating the aliens, travel to/from outposts such as the moon became incredibly fast. At the defence outpost there, they suddenly come under attack from a massive spaceship that is so much larger than the one 20 years earlier.
The former President Whitmore (Bill Pullman) and scientist David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) both return in an attempt to defeat the new threat which involves many sub-plots and different sets of characters. The audience discovers that the aliens are after the earth's core - once that is gone, life on earth would cease - with a spaceship hovering over the ocean. Another spaceship is over land (the USA, of course) in which they establish the "queen alien" is located, so they devide a plan to eliminate her. However, it is not all plain sailing.
An action-packed sequel which has a very good storyline and excellent special effects; it is just a pity that the dialogue in the script is just too predictable and corny at times.
However, for a summer blockbuster and sequel to the original, it will stand on its own feet. There was little character development, but as some of the characters were from the first film, this does not take too much from the film. However, one would have expected more direction from Roland Emmerich who brought us the first Independence Day film in 1996.
