259 - Independence Day: Resurgence

My god... this time around Your Stupid Minds covers the legacy sequel of 1996's biggest film. It's Independence Day: Resurgence, which was most definitely not 2016's biggest film. Starring Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Maika Monroe, and 3,800 other people (but not Mae Whitman). We really have our work cut out for us when describing this plot. It's 20 years after the events of the last film. Earth has commandeered the alien technology and created a Federation-like utopia centered around how cool it was when we kicked those aliens' asses. President Lanford (Sela Ward) is on the verge of the event's anniversary celebration when our laser moon base spots an alien sphere approaching the planet. They immediately blast it and go to pick up the remains. Meanwhile, as is custom for a Roland Emmerich/Dean Devlin joint, there are more groups. There are the hotshot spaceship fighter pilots of Jake (Hemsworth), Dylan (Jessie T. Usher), the step-son of Will Smith's Steve Hiller in the first film, who is dead in this one, and some other people I don't have time to describe. Jeff Goldblum is back as David Levinson. His ex-wife is missing but replaced with scientician Catherine (Charlotte Gainsbourg), some UN nerd (Nicolas Wright), and an African warlord who hunts aliens (Deobia Oparei). They're trying to solve the mystery of the sphere. Judd Hirsch is back somehow. He survived a 10,000 foot tsunami in Florida and is now driving a 30 year old station wagon to Area 51 on one tank of gas. There are also some Irish seamen who are supposed to watch a big hole in the earth or something. Brent Spiner is also back as Dr. Brakish Okun. He's been in a 20 year coma recovering from dying in the last movie. He's having a good time. In any case, the sphere was some supercomputer that the bad aliens want. The humans use it as bait to lure the aliens and there is a cacophony of reused 2012 CGI assets as things go bang bang boom boom and the London eye falls into Buckingham Palace or whatever.