‘Independence Day’ co-stars Goldblum, Hemsworth are BFFs

But nothing can prepare us for the aliens’ advanced and unprecedented force.

When some of this year’s other summer movies are too predictable to be fun or too serious to be satisfying, this one is a welcome reminder that there’s a lot of fun to be had in a silly big-budget film that embraces its patriotic identity (it is the 4th of July, after all) and a comfortable flair for the outrageous. Nobody cares about the side dishes, just give us the main course – explosions and action sequences in this case, of which there is a mind-numbing plenty. Directed by Roland Emmerich.

That hasn’t quelled Roland Emmrich’s enthusiasm to continue his sci-fi franchise beyond 2016, however, revealing to Empire that he’s already drafted up some ideas for a potential Independence Day 3.

It’s not even remotely surprising to hear how silly the story is for Moonfall, especially after you see Independence Day: Resurgence this weekend. “Independence Day” was a staple of 90s-era action filmmaking and a great vehicle for star Will Smith at the peak of his box office reign.

Most of the rest of the cast and characters from the first film are back, though, among them Jeff Goldblum as David Levinson, again the only real hope to figure out how to repel the aliens, and Bill Pullman as former President Thomas Whitmore who, despite the lofty title, again remains the brawn of the operation. Will Smith, glimpsed only briefly in the movie, was smart to avoid the sequel to one of his biggest blockbusters. Independence Day: Resurgence is on, Silverhawks is probably next or something, and your Saturday morning is off to an awesome start.

This image released by Twentieth Century Fox shows Liam Hemsworth as Jake Morrison in a scene from “Independence Day: Resurgence”.

“Resurgence”, the newest entry in the disaster film genre that has included films as wide-ranging in time period as the 1972 film “The Poseidon Adventure” and the original 1996 hit “Independence Day”, is now in theaters.

The film has assembled a cadre of screenwriters – five people wrote this! – who have given us one flimsy story. The movie offers several cringe-inducing moments of attempted humor, along with a wink or two at the last film. And I’ll post the answers next Thursday, or earlier if someone gets all of them right.

Technically, a film’s plot can begin at any time and still be 10 years in the making of the actual production, but there’s a clue in that this is unlikely to be the case because the director behind the first two films would want to direct it. On whether he’ll take the reigns on a third ID4 film, he said, “Will I definitely direct it?”

“Hey, the White House finally makes it through an Independence Day movie”.