I know that Independence Day is not a good movie, and I have certainly seen it way more times that it deserves. The reason for this is a simple one: Boomer.

Boomer is the nice Golden Retriever owned by Ms. Vivica Fox as she escapes an exploding Los Angeles. As they ridiculously (this is from a geographical perspective. That’s my biggest problem with this scene) run into the Third Street tunnel to escape the wall of flame, Boomer runs behind, leaping from car to car, and jumps through the convenient maintenance doorway just at the last second.

I’m smiling just thinking about it, for the simple reason that you can totally tell that the dog is having a great time. Big pink tongue hanging out, jumping on whatever green screen lumps they used before not very effectively CGI’ing in the cars and flames such. Dog leap, dog hug, light bulb break to black, title card: July 3.

Chills.

Also, Boomer!

That spirit is alive and weirdly well in ID4+20, which feels very much like a throwback to this very silly, but also kinda fun, era. Independence Day: ‘Resurgence’ is not really a word that anyone has ever used is the expensive version of San Andreas, which makes us realize that San Andreas was low budget version of the original. Which was Independence Day.

To explain. Having met an extremely chatty landlady at my vacation rental, I was faced with a choice between human contact or anything else. And so…
I would say that I miss the 30 minutes of commercials that are tradition in the UK, but I do not miss them. Instead I’ll say I missed them, literally! Due to getting the wrong ticket (for Now You See Me 2, don’t worry, I’ll see it), I waited as the staff spiraled around to print the correct ticket and sat down, just as the film was starting. Not even an ad for not the place I was already sitting in. No wonder I liked it.

The clunky but charmingly naïve style of the 1996 film is very much in place. The characters speak in exposition, and are broadly drawn. But this gives the actors an opportunity to make them fun, as do Mr. Jeff Goldblum, Mr. Deobia Oparei and Mr. Liam Helmsworth. It also offers the opportunity for youch embarrassment (Mr. Judd Hirsch) or explosive blandness (Mr. Jessie Usher, who would do well to avoid rousing speeches). For the first three, people never appreciate the opportunities of terrible writing. For the rest, people never appreciate that this is the most Ms. Charlotte Gainsbourg will ever be paid. You should buy a ticket for that reason alone.

Another advantage of the 1990s actioner is that the characters generally do shit, instead of talking to postpone the action. Though hand wringing is obligatory, there’s less here than one might see in the recent spate of Marvel films. When they learn that there’s an alien cube to rescue, or however many sides it had, they just go do it.

They also don’t mysteriously hold back plot points as has become our custom; when the good guys know that the other alien is the good alien, you know that it will be. Like Boomer, they’re having a good time, and wearing their narrative heart on their sleeve. Just like, say, a doggie jumping from a car to a moving car! But this time it was a different doggie!

I don’t mind copies. As long as they’re legible.