#dikembe umbutu

[annamaetion]

I once wrote a fic for the sequel of the movie Independence Day, years after it aired— thinking nobody would care about my rare-pair (to this day I think I’m still the only written and posted fic with this pair).

It’s not rare in the usual sense (i.e: the characters actually talk to one another in the movie and are only a little bit of a stretch to imagine together)

One would assume that a rare pair in a long ‘dead’ fandom would go unnoticed and why would I even bother? Because I liked my idea enough to write the darn thing, and who knows?

Then, I recently received a comment that says that they were surprised that:

1) Someone also shipped the characters

2) Someone finally wrote a story

3) And that the story was also good

I’d link it but as AO3 is currently down that’s not really an option, when the website is back up any interested parties can look up the story, it’s called ‘Downtime’ and it’s Dikembe Umbutu/Floyd Rosenberg

I hate that planned obsolescence is starting to reach fandoms. I hate that fandoms are starting to die after two, three years, I hate that whenever you stop getting content that means the fandom will die and be gone.

I need people to stop trying to brush off old interests as being 'cringe' as soon as you lose interest, or worse: make it seem like it's imoral to like something that they themselves held so dear before.

Fandoms are meant to last for years and years, the moment content stops being created is the moment we truly thrive because we keep creating the content ourselves the way we love it and expand on the things that are already there for us.

I don't care if you lost interest on something, it's fine and normal even, but stop trying to blame and make fun of people who still do love the fandom and the content and the things we can create.

I need people to enjoy fandom again

[data2364]

Brent Spiner as  Doctor Brackish Okun   2016 in  “Independence Day: Resurgence”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day:_Resurgence

[annamaetion]

Independence Day: Downtime

Dikembe Umbutu -Congolese Warlord Floyd Rosenberg -Government Accountant

The harvester queen had been vanquished and the sphere was secure. Finally some time to relax and to finally catch their collective breaths.

Floyd could hardly believe that he'd survived, but he put off those thoughts for now. He sat on a soft patch of soil out near where he'd defended Area 51 with Warlord Umbutu just a bit earlier. Umbutu sat with him, watching as Floyd contemplated the gun he'd been handed.

"Do you think they'll let me keep this?" He asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

"You have the heart of a warrior." Umbutu said, seemingly out of nowhere.

Floyd looked pleased but was somewhat shocked. "That's the nicest thing anybody's ever said to me."

Umbutu shrugged, "You remember that I brought that blaster --you have-- with me from Congo? The one they gave you was taken back by the doctor."

"Are you asking for it back?" Floyd asked smiling, "Or--"

"I am saying that if anyone here tries to take that blaster from you they'll have to go through me as well."

"Neat. Best present ever." Floyd smiled with unbounded glee, "Thanks man..." Floyd canted his head slightly, "So... odd question. What do I call you? Dikembe... Umbutu... I'm not sure which of your names I'm supposed to call you."

"When talking to me you may call me Dikembe, but introduce me as Warlord Umbutu to those who don't know me if I should come up." Dikembe angled slightly more towards Floyd, "What name do I call you by? I remember Director Levinson called you Rosenberg, but I'm not sure I remember if you were addressed by any other name?"

"You can call me Floyd."

Dikembe stuck out his right hand. "Apologies Floyd." He said, his pronunciation of Floyd's name slightly clumsy but getting there, "I judged you quite wrongly during our first meeting and I mistook your enthusiasm as-- misplaced."

Floyd took his hand and shook it, "Well to be fair to you, before today I hadn't ever had any real experience fighting with weapons." Floyd withdrew his hand and shrugged, "By the way, that alien mind thing? That looked super painful, I was scared that you'd somehow got struck by a laser or something..."

"And I was very concerned how, at first, the sphere seemed to be 'eating you' the hive mind fears it after all... and so too do I.  It is the shade of their fear, but I cannot shake it."

"Maybe you're just anxious, because I know I am."

"I do not know this word, 'anxious'."

"Uh. Unsure about the future? Worried about could happen-- but like a background baseline feeling?" Floyd shrugged, "Wanting something to do...also? It's a complicated feeling."

Dikembe nodded, "Anxious sounds like what I am feeling."

They again lapsed into a comfortable silence, both casually watching Area 51 personnel scurry about to clean and collect the shield generators. The school bus still sat where it had been nearly crushed. The children had long since been placed in the bases' mess hall, both Dikembe and Floyd were glad to see that the kids looked more or less okay.

Suddenly a nearby radio crackled to life. "Hello-- uh this is Julius Levinson. Director Levinson's father-- er one of the kids is missing his backpack, could someone check the bus and let me know if you find one on it? Uh-- over."

Floyd exchanged a glance with Dikembe "Well I was planning a trip to the mess hall anyway, you want to come with me?"

Dikembe nodded, "It will be interesting to see what they have for food on this base."

Floyd grabbed the radio and they headed over towards the bus. The backpack was quickly located under one of the back seats and one of the kids' rabbit hats lay on a nearby seat as well.

"Floyd to Julius, come in Julius." "Yeah-- Julius here." "Located backpack and a hat, you guys are still in the mess hall right? Over." "Yes we're still there...over." "Headed your way, over and out."

They handed the backpack and hat to Julius upon entering the mess hall, he grinned and handed the stray articles to the kids that they belonged to.

"Thanks, I guess I should have thought to do a final check, but with all that's been happening I guess it completely slipped my mind."

"Of course, glad to help. Anything good to eat around here?"

Julius sighed, "Military rations and MRE's mostly."

Floyd contemplated a nearby set of three vending machines. He quirked an eyebrow, "Well, I've got an idea. Dikembe would you help me move these machines away from the wall?"

"Yes of course."

Once the machines had been moved forward Floyd set to fiddling with the bottom of the first one, "Thanks, now lets see here—yup. You'd think an Area 51 base vending machine would be more secure than your average one. Nope, totally a commercial model."

The vending machine whirred to life and started turning each spiral in quick succession. Bags of chips and various other treats rained down into the collection area.

"Tada!" Floyd said grinning widely, "Don't go overboard or anything though don't want to be responsible for any tummy aches." Floyd then moved on to the drinks machine.

Julius laughed, "How'd you learn to do that?" "Well, I've got a broad electrical knowledge and programming know-how. It was one of the requirements for me being Director Levinson's accountant. Gotta have someone to simplify the technology expense account for the military higher ups."

The kids were happy clamoring over the pile of goodies and collecting drinks grinning and laughing. The eldest of the kids remembered her manners by turning to Floyd and thanking him. The other kids chimed in with a flurry of thank you's and yeah's nodding happily.

"No problem, glad to help. Hey pass me a package of funyons?"

One of the myriad of kids tossed him a bag of the fried onions.

"You a fan of onions Dikembe?" "Yes?" "Toss a bag to him too."

Another bag was thrown, but this time to Dikembe.

"They're battered and fried onions. Try them and tell me what you think."

Dikembe opened the bag and sniffed tentatively at the contents. Extracting one he brought it to his mouth and tossed it in.

He chewed slowly and nodded, "It is very unusual. You Westerners put a lot of salt on your foods however, is there a water bottle that I might have?"

The elder blond girl walked up and handed Dikembe a water bottle. "Here you go sir."

"Thank you." Dikembe said simply.

Suddenly Director Levinson was at the door to the mess hall, "Hey Dad- Uh Rosenberg... kids. Warlord... Umbutu."

"Hello David," Julius greeted his son with a hug that was shyly received, "What did they say about when we can leave here?"

David wobbled his hands in a so-so gesture. "We're still working on re-establishing the communication networks, it could take a while before we can get ourselves organized enough to wrangle the kids' parents."

The group cast glances at the kids collected around the far table in the corner munching on their snacks.

"For now I guess they'll have to stay here. We'll have a better time getting them some real food in Area 51 after the dust settles a little."

"Good. I guess we should figure out where they'll sleep then."

"There's some barracks a ways off from the main barracks. Should be space for them there."

Julius nodded, "Okay kids we'll be heading off. Follow us to the barracks we gotta to get you guys some rest."

The kids muttered their agreements and started collecting their respective things.

Floyd turned towards Dikembe, "Are you headed back to Congo anytime soon?"

"Not tonight, the pilots are in need of rest, and the planes we do have are in need of refuel or repair. I will have to remain here for now."

"Right yeah- I guess I should have figured." Floyd scratched the back of his head as he watched the kids file out of the mess hall. "Maybe we should follow them, so we know where the barracks are?"

Dikembe nodded, "And we should also help make sure the children are looked after as well."

"Yeah, that many kids is bound to be something even Area 51 isn't really equipped to deal with." Floyd brought up the rear of the line of kids with Dikembe following right behind him.

—    —    —    —    —    —    —    —    —    —

The school bus kids, the ones that had originally been with the bus that is, had numbered 22 before Julius had joined them with the three kids he'd traveled with. 25 kids was a lot to keep tabs on, but Floyd gladly teamed up with Dikembe to help Julius with the task.

Soon the number began to dwindle as families or relatives of the kids were located. Two weeks passed with Floyd beginning to wonder when Dikembe would leave back to his kingdom (is it called a kingdom if his official title is warlord?)

He didn't want him to leave, so he didn't ask. Dikembe called him his 'Warrior Brother' and ate every meal with him. Floyd would miss looking after the gaggle of kids, which he lovingly thought of as the jackrabbits because of their hats.

He'd especially miss Dikembe, his cool and aloof demeanor was the sort any action hero would be proud to sport. Basically he was too cool for him to be associating with a nerdy government accountant like Floyd.

Those tallies on his arm and machetes on his back were pretty badass too.

One morning a few days after the last of the jackrabbits now being looked after by family Floyd worried that he'd be left behind in Area 51 with very little that he could do that he was qualified for.

Floyd sat sullenly in a corner of the former barracks and pondered this. Maybe he should follow Dikembe to Congo?

Julius appeared at the door to the room and brightened upon spotting him.

"Floyd, there you are." "Hey Julius. What's up?" "Umbutu was looking for you? Something about The Congo?" "Oh?" "Yeah he was looking for a ride or something, he's in the main hanger- he asked if anyone had seen you." "So he hasn't left yet?"

"Like he'd leave without saying goodbye to you?" Julius laughed, "You two have practically been joined at the hip these past few weeks."

Floyd shrugged, "I guess you're right, thanks for finding me."

Floyd stood and strode out of the room.

The entire walk to the main hanger filled Floyd with a mounting dread. Was this goodbye? He supposed that it was long past time for Dikembe to head home to Congo (he was the warlord after all).

The main hanger was a livelier bustle than it been the previous week, now that communication channels had been re-established, there were now ways to organize the supplies that needed to get ferried about.

Honestly Floyd wasn't really up on the latest thing that Area 51 had decided on. There should be more meetings, or maybe there could at least be a memo?

Dikembe was always easy to spot in almost any room, tall and looming. So Floyd found him easily.

"Hey, heard you were looking for me?" "Yes Floyd, it is high time for me to return home. I would like it very much if you would accompany me." "I-I uh, sure yeah- that'd be awesome..." "What bothers you?" "I-I don't think I'd really fit in. I mean: 'Dangly, pale, bespectacled English man." He said pointing at himself derisively, "Yeah that’s totally the guy who would fit into a tribal(?) African warrior culture. He'll fit right in."

Dikembe rested his hand on Floyd's shoulder, "You would make an excellent addition. As an ambassador to the western world and and English teacher-- if nothing else. Though you're a warrior if ever I saw one."

"Ah. That's a good point actually. About the ambassador to the Western world, I mean."  Floyd shrugged, "After all Dr. Marceaux is staying here to figure out the sphere."

"Indeed, the good doctor did act as our ambassador for a while." Dikembe said nodding, "But even if she were wanting to return with me, I still would have requested you come."

"Well, okay." Floyd said smiling widely, "When are we leaving?"

"The pilot is ready now."

"Awesome. Let's go then."

—    —    —     —     —     —     —     —    —

The Congolese people seemed a little put off by Floyd, but eventually settled their concerns after getting used to him.

Well, for the most part.

Dikembe's council of fellow warriors shot looks at Floyd and grumbled derogatory things in their native tongue behind his back. They had only tolerated the female doctor because she only was interested in her studies of the aliens' language.

She had never overstepped her welcome by being so foolish as to correct their English! He should be more respectful.

Dikembe overheard these men from time to time, wanting very much to throttle them the first few, and growing increasingly more worried with the frequency of the complaints. Could his council not see Floyd's worth?

They mocked his name and his pale skin, called him weak to his face!

Dikembe felt troubled, maybe if they could see Floyd as the warrior that he was underneath the layer of their own underestimation?

Floyd didn't seem to let it get to him, he'd known there would be some push-back. In truth he'd expected a lot more derision from the council of elders.

It wasn't until a conflict with a group of harvester aliens, that Floyd was able to prove himself. (pod... swarm? What's the collective term for the harvester aliens?)

Floyd only had minor abrasive cuts whereas other established warriors said they owed their lives to Floyd as he had provided much needed cover. The warriors said of him, 'Calm, and vigilant. Seemingly seeing enemies mere moments before their attacks.'

This quieted the descent from the elders, finally, Floyd had secured the reputation of a warrior amongst his people.

"Of all the things you've got to worry about on a daily basis, the aliens are almost the most predictable." Floyd murmured, "I think this pocket of them must have gotten desperate to ambush us though. They've mostly stayed hidden and stuck at night on small groups or lone travelers."

"Yes... or children." Dikembe offered somberly.

"They- the children aren't allowed to leave the secured perimeter until the last of the aliens' are cleared out." Floyd said confused, "There hasn't been a kid attacked since I've gotten here, and it's going to stay that way if I've got any say in it!"

Dikembe sighed. "Before, with my Father in charge— he said that children had to be trained from an early age to be warriors— to learn to fight on their own." Dikembe slowly gestured to his younger brothers' photo on the wall.

"Oh." Floyd said simply, "I see."

"When I took over, I vowed to avenge my younger brother." Dikembe shook his head, "a part of me wonders if we've really made a dent if that was only one of the harvester queens."

"Well the sphere did say no one had ever killed a harvester queen before," Floyd noted, "so we've showed the resistance that it's at least possible."

Dikembe nodded, "It is a start."

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

A year passed, and the aliens left on earth were estimated to be less than 100 worldwide. Absolutely none left in all of Congo or in the surrounding countries thanks to the sizable efforts of the warriors and citizenry.

There were celebrations being planned all over, one year anniversary of the defeat of the harvester queen, and the Twenty-first anniversary of the original attack's win.

"Floyd. Warrior brother?" Dikembe was puzzled, Floyd had not made it to breakfast that morning, it wasn't like him to sleep in. Today was special— they were supposed to celebrate the anniversary of the win together after all.

Dikembe knocked on Floyd's door, "Are you in there?" A light groan emanated from behind the door.

Floyd opened the door slightly, "Good morning Dikembe— sorry I slept in, but I was just so comfortable this morning."

The door shifted slightly revealing a bare chested Floyd, "I figured if I couldn't sleep in— today of all days— when could I?" Floyd chuckled at his own joke, very much unaware of the assessing look that Dikembe was sweeping over his bare chest.

"What?" Floyd said, having finally noticed Dikembe had yet to say anything. Upon realizing he was being stared at Floyd began to shrink back and he nervously placed his arms in front of his chest.

"Uh— I'll just go get dressed --now."

Dikembe silently entered the room and closed the door behind him, "No need to dress yourself on my account— you have no need to be ashamed of your bare chest."

Dikembe noted the tally marks on Floyd's left arm. The small black lines on his upper arm, standing in a stanch contrast to the pale skin, were very far above where his tan line started.

"You would even hide your tally?"

Floyd shrugged, "Well, sort of?" He shrugged shyly, "It makes sense to start at the top of the arm and work down it... I sun burn easy, so long sleeves are just to be practical."

Dikembe took a step toward Floyd and traced the small tallies with his right hand, "You have made great progress this past year," he counted out the tally in his head, "You are nearing a count of seventy."

Floyd arm was smooth to Dikembe's rough callused hand as he clasped his hand over his shoulder. Floyd still wasn't looking Dikembe in the eye. Dikembe realized that Floyd was shaking slightly.

"Why are you shaking?" Dikembe asked confused. It was not cold in the room... maybe Floyd had caught a chill, and that was the true reason for him sleeping in.

Floyd's eyes darted around, only briefly meeting Dikembe's gaze. However, it was enough for the seasoned warlord to recognize fear and uncertainty.

"What troubles you?"

Floyd sighed, "Didn't sleep well last night if I'm honest, the one year anniversary is technically only because the twentieth anniversary was interrupted by another invasion." Floyd's gaze finally settled on Dikembe, "The aliens seem to really like attacking on significant dates...is what I'm saying."

Dikembe nodded, "This is true, but the downed alien ships do not stir— and I feel nothing of the hive mind."

Floyd offered a watery smile, but the first genuine one he'd offered that morning.

Something shifted between them, and a very fragile— very small— moment hung in the air. A moment that was more of a feeling. A feeling, one year and many battles in the making.

A warlord of Congo, fighting since birth, for his brother— fighting against his fathers decisions about the recruitment of children.

A pale British man, former government accountant, who went from working in liaison with the military to fighting alongside the military. Then chosen to become the Congo's ambassador to the West.

The differences of their backgrounds and cultures were too many. The moment—the feeling— was surely too fragile.

                                                       But.

Where others, might have faltered. Where so many other possibilities branched from the conclusion of this conversation... so much easier possibilities with less far reaching consequences...

Both Dikembe and Floyd simultaneously  reached into the feeling and listed in the direction of the other.

The kiss was short and chaste, barely a brush of their lips.

It shook both men to their cores. The kiss changed everything.

It was a silent admission of what had been growing between them in the past year, and was perhaps more fragile than the moment previous.

Neither man said anything, the only sound in the room was their breathing.

Then Floyd tilted his head to the side, imploring Dikembe with a seeking question in his look.

Floyd then purposely surged forward and kissed Dikembe.

Dikembe's hands grasped at Floyd. The right hand gripping his shoulder harder, and his left hand found itself at the small of Floyd's back.

They lost themselves to the moment. Their pasts and titles were no longer barriers between them. Or, maybe, they never really were any barriers— other than the shallow ones, imagined and then taught by society.

When they finally broke apart Floyd smiled self-deprecatingly, "You could do a LOT better than me. I can't be worth all the problems that I know—"

Dikembe silenced him with a deep kiss.

He parted only a sliver of distance between their mouths to reply, "I still do not understand how you do not see your own worth. I made the mistake of not seeing it when we first met, and since having been proved to be wrong I have had to fight to make others see it."

Dikembe kissed him again, even more deeply than the last time. Passion ramping up with each kiss, with his hands and arms set to holding Floyd close. Another pause as Dikembe continued his line of thought.

"Now I will fight to make sure that you see." Dikembe clasped Floyd's face with his right hand, "I will see to it that you no longer have cause to so disparage -the man— I have found cause to love."

"L-love?" Floyd was both visibly elated and shocked in equal measure. How could a Congolese Warlord possibly-?

He wasn't Warlord Umbutu to him- no, he'd long since been just simply, Dikembe.

Floyd smiled wide and surged forward into Dikembe's proffered kiss.

[amplesalty]

Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We’re going to live on!

In honour of the fact that yesterday was July the 4th, it felt appropriate to finally check out the sequel to the 1996 classic Independence Day. Not that I should really be honouring it considering my side lost in that particular exchange. Plus, as K-Pop stans on Twitter taught us: #allcountriesmatter

I remember thinking it was a bit strange that it took 20 years to get a sequel. I mean, the original was one of the highest grossing movies of the 1990’s (and still within the top 100 of all time) and featured the iconic image of the White House being blown to smithereens. There was a massive marketing push at the time with that scene featuring heavily and the nickname ‘ID4’ seemed to be everywhere. And whilst not exactly in line with the contents of those movies, its scenes of mass destruction helped continue the ongoing disaster movie trends and helped it kick on into the late 90’s and early 00’s with the likes of Twister, Dante’s Peak, Armageddon, Deep Impact and The Day After Tomorrow.

Of course the most notable part of that first movie is President Whitmore’s stirring speech that is rivalled perhaps only by the words of Colonel William F. Guile in Street Fighter as the most inspirational speeches in cinematic history. Even Gilbert Gottfried felt compelled to give his own reading to this glorious battle-cry.

The sequel leans quite heavily into this speech, with Whitmore’s words echoing out across the galaxy and being picked up by what seem to be brethren of the original attack force from 96, giving rise to the new invaders.

But Earth isn’t going to be a pushover this time around, we’ve been able to meld the alien technology from that first wave with our own, developing plasma weapons and even establishing a moon base with a giant frickin’ laser beam. It’s cool to see that technological leap and how humanity was able to learn from that event in a materialistic way. Plus, it provides a nice contrast later on in the film when the aliens wipe out all satellite communication and people are forced to go back to the old ways of radar and radio waves. There’s something amusing about people literally dusting off an old piece of equipment they found in a cupboard and it helps save the day.

If revisiting the speech wasn’t fan service enough, the movie really starts to wallow in it as it starts trotting out all the old faces, even if that’s only a painting in Will Smith’s case. Apparently he wanted too much money to sign on so his character was killed offscreen in a test flight back in the year 2007. Still, it’s high praise to have his picture hanging on the walls of the White House alongside Washington, Jefferson etc. We still get an ace pilot named Hiller though in the form of his son, whose old friend Patricia Whitmore, the former president’s daughter, is working in the White House. Her fiancé is out in space and has a bit of a rivalry with Hiller. I spent the whole movie thinking the actress who plays Patricia looked really familiar and it turns out she’s the girl from It Follows. These characters are a bit underdeveloped and it feels like they just drafted them up last minute as a replacement when they realised they couldn’t get Smith to come back, only apparently they knew for years that he wasn’t going to be involved so chalk it up to incompetency I guess.

As happily coincidental as it seems to have them just happen to have grown up and filled these crucial roles, it does save us from further movie padding from having to break off the story to go find out what happened to them. Like, there’s a good portion of the movie dedicated to Julius Levinson (Jeff Goldblum’s dad in the original) miraciously surviving the initial wave of this 2016 attack before meeting up with a bunch of kids that just spring up out of nowhere and their grand adventure to get to the safety of Area 51. Only, they still end up in danger when they get there and we have this whole scene of David trying to save them whilst also trying to co-ordinate the big fightback at the end of the movie. It just feels like these kids were inserted as a means of providing some sort of connection with the adults in the audience, as if they can’t sympathise with the fate of the entire planet so they have to give them a bunch of primary school kids to worry about instead.

Even Dr. Okun is back, seemingly from the dead! And he seems to have been Dumbledore’d because apparently he was gay this entire time? I don’t remember that from the first movie. I can only imagine the proverbial angry fist waving going on at the time of the release when the internet found out about this; ‘They’re ruining my childhood with this SJW bullshit!’. Being in a coma for 20 years doesn’t seem to be the hinderance you might think it would be because he’s up and about within minutes, running around marvelling at how the world has progressed and barking orders at people. Kinda lose a bit of your dignity in that when you’re still in your hospital gown with your arse hanging out mind you.

He does have a bit of a lasting effect from his close encounter from the first movie, remnants of the psychic connection to the aliens that is also lingering in President Whitmore and a new character, Dikembe Umbutu who is a African warlord who has been leading a groundfight with his troops against an outlier set of aliens who were able to land and survive the 96 invasion. There seems to be a bit of a wider ID4 canon through various novel releases so I wonder if any of those cover this African war, that might be interesting. I thought this whole psychic connection story might be going somewhere, like maybe the aliens might be able to control those individuals when they do invade and they might use it to sabotage some of Earth’s defences but no. Even President Whitmore starts out portrayed like he’s gone a bit crazy and that he’s barely able to function at times but he heals up pretty quick.

Either that or maybe the US General is in cahoots with the aliens somehow? I mean, he does end up being sworn in as acting President when the current President is killed along with her line of succession so he has benefited from it personally. I probably wouldn’t have had any thoughts like that though if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s William Fichtner playing him and he’s just a perennial bad guy.

That Umbutu guy is pretty badass though, runs around with a pair of big knives that he goes into close quarter combat with, cutting the aliens out of their suits and then chopping their heads off. Which ties in to an aspect of the movie that I liked, there’s much more hands on combat between the humans and the aliens in this movie. The first one obviously had a big focus on aerial combat, which is largely present here as well, but there’s a lot of ground combat as well which freshen things up a bit. There’s a section where the air troops are sent to attack the mothership and end up inside it, only for it’s defense mechanisms to ground them. It has this jungle/marshland vibe to it, like they have this whole habitable land with crops and stuff within the ship, and it leads to this section where a couple of the pilots are hiding beneath the water, sneaking around to avoid detection.

On the other hand though, I didn’t feel anywhere near the impeding level of threat of the first movie. The story is that the aliens are drilling into the Earth in order to harvest it’s molten core in order to fuel their systems before moving on to the next world, kinda like Galactus I think? Whilst this would lead to the destruction of the entire planet, it just felt more threatening when they had their ships stationed over all the major cities of the world. Plus, it feels like they’re more content on their drilling operation than actually engaging in any fights with humanity which leads to a lot of scenes where people are just standing around not really doing anything. It seems at odds with the introduction to the movie as well where the initial attackers distress beacon is sent out, that would imply they’re calling for reinforcements but now it just seems like they were just going to come and steal our shit anyway? Or maybe they just consider us vastly inferior that it’s not even worth the effort. Pretty dismissive considering we wrecked you last time out.

That’s not to discount some of the special effects on show, the movie is bookended by big action scenes that are a particular highlight. The invading mothership is said to be so big that it has it’s own gravitation field leads to a really cool visual of our heroes trying to navigate their ship through a skyline littered with buildings, cargo ships and jumbo jets.

The finale with the alien Queen attacking Area 51 is really cool as well. You’ve got this massive alien rampaging through the desert, controlling all the alien fighters around her like a swarm. I think all the sheer size and all the tentacles lend it a bit of a Cthulu vibe.

Absolutely massive amount of sequel baiting at the very end though which doesn’t look like it will ever be fulfilled. It did take us 20 years to get this one but they seem to have had ideas to make a trilogy of sequels in fairly quick succession but the critical and financial failures of this one means it’s looking kinda dead in the water at this point. It still grossed some $390m against a production budget of $165m but you’ve probably gotta factor in a fairly sizable marketing budget that will really eat into that margin.

It’s a bit of a shame,  I would have been interested in the series continuing as I personally found this enjoyable in spite of some the issues I have with it’s run time, bloated cast list and inadequate replacements for the charm and energy that Will Smith brought to the original. Trim off some of the fat and it would have made things a lot smoother. Did we really need to know what Mrs Hiller was up to 20 years on? I think just about the only character we didn’t revisit from that movie was their dog. I guess Boomer will not live.

[daughter-of-water]

I just saw Independence Day Resurgence. So disappointing. It felt more like a vehicle for Liam Hemsworth than the sequel to one of my favorite movies. He had more screentime than pretty much everyone including Capt. Hiller’s stepson whom after I heard Will Smith would not be reappearing, I had totally expected would take on more of the role as primary protagonist in his place. There was so much potential there with that character too. They could have explored what it means to be the stepchild of a hero and how he loving his stepdad so much may feel inadequate because of not being biologically related to fulfill his legacy. We could have had Levinson or Whitmore acting as a mentor to him, reassuring him that Hiller could not have asked for a better son. We could have explored the relationship between Dylan and Whitmore’s daughter turning it into a sweet childhood friend romance or everlasting bond of friendship but noooooo, instead the role of primary protagonist is given to his apparent rival, this entirely new character played by Hemsworth whose parents didn’t even appear in the original and who we are supposed to feel sympathy for more so than Dylan Hiller because oh, how tragic, he was passed over for a position of leadership after his reckless ambition nearly killed Dylan. 

And like how is Connie not even mentioned? You know David Levinson’s ex wife whom he loved so much he never took off his wedding ring even though he had been divorced from her for several years and whom he reconnected with by the end of the first film? Wiki says she died in a car crash but in the film you never would have know cause she’s not fricking even talked about! I got nothing against Dr. Catherine or anything and honestly, if I was Connie I totally would have gone for Whitmore (yes, I admit twelve year old me totally had a crush on him, do not judge) but you can’t just set up a character to have such a strong love for another like that and not explain what happened with it or not have it be an issue with starting another relationship twenty years later. Speaking of missing things, what happened with Russell Casse’s kids or Major Mitchell, the commanding officer of Area 51 ? 

[actionmoviesreviews]

Independence Day: Resurgence 2016

This is a kind of science fiction adventure movie by director Roland Emmerich with writers Emmerich, Nicolas Wright, Dean Devlin, James Vanderbilt and James Woods. It is the continuation of the 1996 movie Independence Day and the movie was set 20 years after the proceedings of the initial film.

The Cast Lists:

Liam Hemsworth played as Jake Morrison, the U.S. lieutenant pilot that serves in ESD.

Jeff Goldblum played as David Levinson, the MIT-educated strategist, computer expert, a scientist, and an environmental activist.

Angelababy played as Rain Lao, a lieutenant in ESD and a Chinese pilot.

Gbenga Akinnagbe played as Agent Matthew Travis, the US Secret Service agent.

William Fichtner played as Joshua Adams, the U.S. General in control of the ESD's defense sector.

Vivica Fox played as Jasmine Dubrow-Hiller, the former exotic dancer and the widow of Steven Hiller.

Charlotte Gainsbourg played as the Dr. Catherine Marceaux, the French psychiatrist.

Judd Hirsch played as Julius Levinson, he is David's widowed father

Ng Chin Han played as Jiang Lao, the commanding Chinese General of an ESD's Moon Base.

Joey King played as Samantha Blackwell, the oldest in the siblings that stays in Florida.

Robert Loggia played as Gen. William Grey, USMC (Ret.), he is the 43rd President.

Maika Monroe played as Patricia Whitmore, she is the former president First Daughter.

Robert Neary played as Captain McQuaide.

Deobia Oparei played as Dikembe Umbutu, the head of the government of the Congolese provincial state.

Bill Pullman played as Thomas Whitmore, the 42nd President

Jenna Purdy played as the voice of a Sphere, an ET virtual intelligence.

Brent Spiner played as Dr. Brackish Okun, the mess and the highly excited scientist who is previously in charge of a research in the Area 51.

Patrick St. Esprit played as Reese Tanner, a US Secretary of Defense.

John Storey played as Dr. Milton Isaacs, the physician in charge at the Area 51 medical facility and a scientist as well.

Travis Tope played as Charlie Miller, the U.S. lieutenant pilot that served in ESD.

Jessie Usher played as Dylan Hiller, the son of Jasmine Hiller

Sela Ward played as Elizabeth Lanford, he was the 45th US President and the first lady in the history to hold in an Oval Office of the country.

Nicolas Wright played as Floyd Rosenberg, the mild-mannered admin controller of the Federal Accounting Standards in the Advisory Board.

Garrett Wareing played as Bobby, Hays Wellford as Felix, and Mckenna Grace as Daisy, Sam's younger siblings.

James Woods played as Lt. James Ritter, one of Gen. Adams's subordinates.

The Story Line:

After 20 years of the damaging alien invasion, the UN has arranged an Earth Space Defense (ESD), it is a research program and a global defense that overturns engineer alien technology and operates as the Earth's early warning system towards ET threats. As the 20th celebration of the invasion come near, David Levinson, ESD Director encounters with warlord Dikembe Umbutu and Dr. Catherine Marceaux in an African administration Republique Nationale d'Umbutu. They take a journey to unbroken alien slayer and find out that there were alien survivors that transmit a distress call into their home world just before their fight. It is exposed that earlier US Pres. Thomas Whitmore, Umbutu and Dr. Brackish Okun were telepathically connected to the aliens going after personal encounters and their visions of unnamed spherical objects.

The unidentified circular ship emerges from the wormhole just near the Earth's Moon, and in spite objections from the Levinson, it was smashed out on the instructions of the Security Council of the world. Defying orders, the US pilots, Charlie Miller and Jake Morrison then lift up Levinson, Umbutu, Marceaux, and Floyd Rosenberg, the US federal controller on the space tug and they were headed for the remains in a Van de Graaff hollow, where they claimed a big container. The alien’s Mothership rapidly appears, replying to the distress invitation, and proceeds to smash- out much of the planetary defenses of the Earth's before settling down over the Atlantic Ocean at the North where it began to drill in the molten core of the Earth.

The Writers’ View:

Being the big fan of alien invasion films, I walked out from the cinema and feeling like this was a huge opportunity being wasted. The most negative thing about this is, despite all the blasts and everything about alien invasion, excitement was totally not there. It was totally boring. Not like many other popular sci-fi films, this movie is not really that true to science. The nastiest part, apart from the crying scenarios is that aliens are a lot primitive than us.

                             Watch Independence Day: Resurgence online

[minniethemoocherda]

I can't be the only one who ships that African War lord with the wining white guy who he teamed up with at the end right!?

[data2364]

Brent Spiner  as  Doctor Brackish Okun  2016 in  “Independence Day: Resurgence”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day:_Resurgence

[data2364]

Brent Spiner  as   Doctor Brackish Okun   2016  in   “Independence Day: Resurgence”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day:_Resurgence