Independence Day: Resurgence (PG-13)
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This is a sequel to the 1996 film Independence Day. It came out in 2016, but I didn't see it until 2025, on the Fourth of July. It didn't do well critically, and is considered a box office disappointment (despite making back way more than its budget, worldwide). Personally, I thought it was okay. Not great, but... kinda good. Is it a massively improbable coincidence that aliens once again invaded Earth on Indpendence Day (twenty years after the first attack)? I'd say so. But why should I care? It has no bearing on the quality of the film. And while I don't think it was as good as the original, I still found it sufficiently entertaining. It also seems to be a bit of a stretch to have so many of the same characters from the first movie appear in the sequel, but whatever. It's fine.

In the decades since the first invasion, humanity has come together, no longer fighting any wars amongst each other, which is great. We've also reverse-engineered a bunch of alien technology to create our own new vehicles and weapons and whatever, and established the Earth Space Defense (ESD). So, we would seem to be well-prepared for a second invasion. Unfortunately, when it comes, the mothership is far more massive than the one from twenty years ago, covering a sizable portion of the Earth. David Levinson (from the first film) is now director of the ESD. Before the new invasion, he's in Africa, where he meets up with a warlord named Dikembe Umbutu, whose people I guess had been fighting aliens on Earth for years. They now have control of an alien spaceship. David also reunited with Dr. Catherine Marceaux (who I believe was introduced in this film, but I could be wrong). Before the aliens were defeated, they were drilling a hole to the planet's core, but that stopped after their defeat, and they sent a distress signal to their homeworld, which is why the new invasion begins.

Meanwhile, on the Moon base, we meet pilots Jake Morrison and Charlie Miller. Jake is engaged to Patricia Whitmore, the daughter of former President Thomas Whitmore, from the first film (she's played by a different actress in this film). Patty is friends with another pilot named Dylan Hiller, the son of Steven Hiller, from the first movie. (Dylan is also played by a new actor this time, and has taken on his father's surname, whereas he used his mother's name in the first movie.) Dylan has a grudge against Jake, who once nearly got him killed with his showboating. We also learn that David's father, Julius (from the first film), has written a book about his experiences during the first invasion. He's also bought a boat, which he is on when the new mothership arrives, causing a ton of damage to any ships in the area, and a tidal wave that floods the coast. He's eventually picked up by a group of kids who are driving somewhere, hopefully toward safety. The oldest one is a girl named Sam (Joey King). Their car nearly runs out of gas, when they happen upon a stranded school bus full of kids, and Julius then starts driving everyone on the bus. Also, Dr. Brackish Okun (from the first movie) has been in a coma for the past 20 years, but now he wakes up, and gets involved in stuff involving aliens at Area 51.

Okay, I'm not going to go into all the events of the film, and I may not get everything in proper order. But at one point, a spherical alien ship appears through a wormhole. David warns against firing on the ship, as they don't know its intentions, or if it's even the same aliens who attacked them before. But the ESD council (or UN council, I dunno which), including American President Elizabeth Lanford, decides to strike first, and they destroy the ship. A piece of it falls on the Moon, and against orders, Jake and Charlie go to Earth to pick up David, Catherine, and Umbutu, and take them to the Moon to collect the piece of the alien ship. They take it back to Area 51, where Brackish studies it. It's after this that the alien mothership shows up and attacks, destroying most of Earth's defenses. It then lands in the Atlantic Ocean, and begins drilling to the core. The only boat left in the area begins observing it and relaying information to the ESD. Eventually, the piece of the ship at Area 51 is activated, and it turns out these are different aliens, who are enemies of the ones that attacked Earth. They had been coming to help evacuate Earth before the invasion. Despite the fact that humans destroyed their ship, the alien that communicates with Brackish and his team is still helpful.

And... of course, Dylan, Jake, Charlie, and many others must fight against the aliens, trying to kill their queen, which would make the rest of the aliens give up and go home. But the queen is very well protected. Um, there's also a pilot named Rain Lao, who is Dylan's second in command, and whom Charlie is instantly attracted to. And so much more happens, much of which I already don't remember clearly, and most of which I don't want to spoil anyway. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say humanity wins in the end. And Brackish learns something from the good alien he was talking to that sounds like a hell of a sequel hook. But unfortunately, I doubt there will be any more movies in this franchise. We'll see. Anyway, there are plenty of characters I haven't even mentioned, and some that I did mention I haven't said nearly enough about. Like former President Whitmore plays an important part in everything that's going on, despite his daughter trying to keep him out of it. And she plays an important part in fighting the aliens, as well. And I don't really know what else to say about the plot. The whole movie was just very contrived, and parts of it seemed pretty random, like having pointless bits of plot that existed only to get characters from the first movie in the sequel, especially Julius. But even some new characters seemed a bit superfluous. Despite that, I still enjoyed the action and everything. Not every movie has to be particularly great or original or even entirely cohesive to be fun. Sometimes fun is enough.