Spice World (1997) and a Special Kind of Product Placement

Movies and television have a history of being used to promote products. Advertising has gone hand-in-hand with each form of media for as long as I can remember. It doesn’t matter what you are watching. If there is something on television that captures your attention, corporations will find some way to advertise something else to you. Networks place chyrons for their other shows at the bottom of the screen. Commercial breaks hype up the next big consumer item. And then there is the product placement. Oh, the product placement.

Product placement is a large piece of the advertising market. Thanks to streaming services becoming a much bigger share of the entertainment industry, there’s less chance of people watching standard network or cable television where commercial breaks are a thing. Corporations adapted. Their form of adaptation was a way that had already been an essential part of television and movies. They paid studios and filmmakers to feature their products in their work. Sometimes it was more obvious than others, like entire scenes or stories of Community, Chuck, and Hawaii Five-0 being devoted to Subway. Other times, it was subtler with someone just happening to be typing away on a Macbook. Either way, they were getting their product in front of viewers’ eyes.

The more interesting case, and what brings us into this week’s post, is when an entire movie is used to promote something else. The people involved in the movie, and the story they are bringing to life, are simply used to promote something else that will be coming out or is currently out for people to get a hold of. It could be seen as a branching out of a product, but it is works both ways. A product leading to a movie might be the ultimate goal. The movie will still promote that product, though, making it the ultimate product placement.

Spice World was one of those movies. The 1997 comedy followed Mel B, Mel C, Victoria, Emma, and Geri as they travelled from one place to another, performing music. Their manager, Clifford (Richard E. Grant), tried to set up a movie deal with a film producer (George Wendt) and writer (Mark McKinney). Meanwhile, newspaper head Kevin McMaxford (Barry Humphries) sets Brad (Jason Flemyng) and Damien (Richard O’Brien) out to take down the Spice Girls for better headlines.

This was the heyday of The Spice Girls. Their first album had been released in 1996, with their follow-up being released a year later, in 1997. That follow-up was directly linked to Spice World, with the final title being Spiceworld. The songs were written during filming and integrated into the movie. It became the unofficial soundtrack. Thus, it could be said that the movie was made to promote new music from The Spice Girls, or that the second album was to promote the movie. Either way, there was some cross-promotion and product placement going on.

The other way that Spice World was made for product placement was to promote The Spice Girls, themselves. The personas that the singers took on when they hit the stage got extra time to shine in the movie. Audiences got to familiarize themselves with The Spice Girls beyond listening to their music and seeing interviews. They got to go on an adventure with the decade-defining girl group. The movie promoted them by showing how Mel B fit the Scary Spice persona, how Mel C was sporty, how Emma was the baby of the group, how posh Victoria really was, and what it meant for Geri to be Ginger Spice beyond the red hair. It was an advertisement for the band to help their fans connect better with them. It worked, too. Their second album became a huge success.

Around the same time, there was another major case of a movie being made solely as product placement for something else that was popular. Like Spice World, there was some success in the product placement. It wasn’t quite the same level of success, though it lasted much longer. The product being advertised throughout the movie is still a major part of entertainment, where The Spice Girls kind of dissolved, for the most part, at the turn of the century. I’m talking about Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was a hit television show through the 1990s. It started in 1993, finding success in the after-school television market. Kids were eating the show up. It blended Japanese sentai series footage with original American footage. There were big fights between people in costumes. There were also some grounded stories about high school teens in California that doled out lessons to the kids watching the action unfold at home. You would get to see a monster explode into sparks, and that would be followed up with a scene about how important it was to be yourself and be a good friend.

Two seasons into Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, a film came out. It was set in an alternate continuity. That became obvious when the show returned for season three and covered some of the same ground within the story. The point of the movie wasn’t to continue the story of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The point of the movie seemed to be to tell a similar kind of monster-of-the-week story, but on a bigger scale. There was a bigger budget and more impressive effects.

The movie was a modest success at the box office, but critics panned it for essentially being a longer episode of the show. It didn’t feel any different than the show aside from being longer and having the budget for some computer animated effects and gadgets for the Power Rangers. The audience was there, though. The people who watched the show were there for the movie and would return to the show. People who were introduced to Power Rangers by the movie, who liked the movie, would check out the show. It was a win-win for Saban, the production company behind the property. The show was promotion for the movie and the movie was promotion for the show.

This form of product placement doesn’t happen quite as much as you might expect. There aren’t too many times when an entire movie is made for the purpose of promoting another product or person. Spice World managed to be a movie promoting The Spice Girls as a band. It was meant to help their fans better connect with the band members so that they would want to see and hear more from them. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie was meant to showcase what the Power Rangers franchise was about, on a bigger scale. It had the upsized budget that only a film could get at the time. It brought people into the series while also giving fans of the series another way to see their favourite characters on screen. Both movies were product placement for their main characters, pulling from their past work and promoting their future work.

Product placement doesn’t usually go that far. It usually involves a simple flash of a product or a tie-in of the product into the story. Every once in a while, a story might be put on hold for a character to talk about a product in a very pitch-man type of way. The story isn’t usually tailor made for the product itself. It’s usually tailored to fit the product in. The product is placed into the story, hence the product placement moniker. In these two cases, the product was the story.

With the landscape of entertainment changing as the world becomes digitally focused, product placement has become a much more apparent thing. It was already happening throughout the 80s and 90s, but as commercials took a back seat during programming, product placement took its place to advertise the newest products. There have been some laughable instances of it. There have also been many more that you might not have immediately noticed. Some product placement is done well. Some is not. That’s like the quality of anything, really.

Now for some notes:

• I brought up Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (week 226) throughout this post.
• Bob Hoskins made a brief appearance in Spice World. He previously appeared in Son of the Mask (week 207) and Super Mario Bros. (week 248).
• George Wendt played the film producer in Spice World. He had roles in Sandy Wexler (week 231) and Santa Buddies (week 420).
• David Fahm and Craig Kelly both showed up in Wing Commander (week 394) and Spice World.
• Richard O’Brien played a crucial role in Spice World. He also popped up in Flash Gordon (week 81).
• Elvis Costello has had small parts in both Spice World and 200 Cigarettes (week 161).
• Alan Cumming was in Spice World and Son of the Mask (week 207).
• Finally, Spice World featured the great Richard E. Grant, who was also in Hudson Hawk (week 232).
• Have you seen Spice World? What did you think? Are there any other movies where the movie itself is product placement, rather than the product placement being a part of it? Maybe Batman & Robin (week 138), where everything had to be toyetic. Anyway, if you have thoughts about this post or the topics in it, drop them in the comments or find me on Twitter.
• Let me know what movies I should be checking out for Sunday “Bad” Movies by putting your suggestions in the comments or on my Twitter feed. I’ll find them and I might even include them in future posts.
• Make sure to check in with Sunday “Bad” Movies on Instagram.
• Now it’s time for a look forward to the next upcoming movie. It’s one that will make you jump. Not because it’s scary. It’s not a horror flick. Next week’s movie will be a little more science fiction. That’s because I’ll be checking out Jumper, the 2008 flick from Doug Liman. Do you want to hear my thoughts? Stay tuned for next week’s post. See you then.

Left Behind (2000), Left Behind II: Tribulation Force (2002), Left Behind: World at War (2005), and Christian Movie Storylines

Religion has shaped civilization more than almost anything. Wars have been fought over religious beliefs. People were radicalized through religion. Others found love through religion. It can be as good a thing as bad. It can give people something to believe in, for better or worse. The variety of religions throughout the world only make the idea of belief more varied. One person believes in one religion while the next person believes in another.

When it comes to North America, a few religions stand out more than others. The most common religions, thanks to colonialism, are the Christ-based religions. Catholicism, Protestantism, Mormonism, and Jehovah’s Witnesses are only a few branches of Christianity that have a big impact in North America. Christians attend church. They preach to people about the word of the lord. They also make movies. They make lots of movies that become popular within religious circles.

One of the most common types of religious films is the depiction of biblical tales. People like to take stories from the Bible and present their dramatic interpretation to audiences. There have been numerous retellings of the lives of Jesus Christ, Moses, and Noah. Veggietales did their own version of Jonah and the Whale when they made Jonah: A Veggietales Movie. These stories are like the franchise intellectual property that the big studios love. They’re recognizable and come with a built-in audience.

The other common story thread in religious films is the victimization of Christians. The people aren’t the only victims in these movies. The story will revolve around the entire religion being attacked for some reason or another. In many cases, the religious characters begin preaching and try to bring other people into their religion. The stories become more about Christianity being the only true religion than allowing people to have their own beliefs. They act the victim while treating non-believers like lesser people.

The number one example of this kind of victimization is God’s Not Dead, a movie that made Christianity the victim of erasure by the higher education system. In a philosophy class, a professor wanted to remove God from the philosophy discussion. He asked all his students to take out a blank piece of paper, write “God is dead” on it, and pass it to the front of the room. One student refused to do so because it infringed upon his right to believe, and it began a month-long series of student-led lectures about religion and belief.

On the surface, that might seem like an interesting story. One student fighting for the right to believe while a school tried to keep religion out of the classroom. The problem was that it wasn’t quite about the freedom to believe. The movie was more about believing in Christianity as the one true religion. That was solidified through a side-plot about a woman whose family was strictly Muslim. She believed in Christianity and was forced out of her home because of it. Not only that, but the movie made anyone who didn’t believe Christianity into a jerk. Atheists belittled the religious, an atheist son refused to see his ailing religious mother, that same atheist broke up with his girlfriend when she was diagnosed with cancer… The atheists were jerks.

All of this was to make the Christians the victims. Even though, through recorded time, the Christians have led the charge on human rights atrocities, they played the victim in God’s Not Dead. They were the initiators of the Crusades. They came to North America and forced the Indigenous people to convert or die. They killed people who had different beliefs. Yet they made a movie where they were victimized because they were told that a class wouldn’t involve God in the curriculum.

God’s Not Dead 2 took a slightly different approach, which made the movie better. It wasn’t quite as heavy handed about the Christian believers not being allowed to believe, though that was still a major part of the film. A high school teacher was asked about her beliefs by a student, answered the question, and moved on with her class. She soon found out that she wasn’t allowed to discuss religion at all in the classroom and a lengthy court case ensued over the separation of Church and State.

The story of God’s Not Dead 2 was a little more complex than the film that came before. There were still characters who said that God was dead, but that wasn’t the conflict of the film. The conflict was a little more nuanced. The main character was not being told that she couldn’t believe in God. She was being disciplined because one of the rules of her schoolboard was that she could not teach religion to impressionable students in a high school classroom. When a student asked about her religious beliefs and she responded, another student reported her. A snitch who didn’t get any stitches. That was the conflict’s inciting incident.

Christian victimization was still a thing in God’s Not Dead 2, even if the handling of challenged beliefs was more nuanced. The prosecutor in the court case said that his mission was to prove that God was dead. He didn’t care about the classroom thing. He cared about taking down a religious woman. So, that was there. But there was also depth to some atheists in the sequel that wasn’t there in the original film. The defense lawyer for the teacher was an atheist open to the idea of belief, even if he didn’t believe. He fought for her right to openly believe. Not every atheist in a God’s Not Dead movie was a monster.

There was still the problem of propping Christianity up as the only true way to believe, however. The woman who got cancer in the first film was miraculously healed in the sequel because she opened herself up to God. She found religion and, in finding religion, she was healed of all her ailments. It was an unrealistic portrayal of the health system, which made it seem like thoughts and prayers were the only thing needed to cure a serious disease. Sure, they could help because they lift a person’s spirits. But there still needs to be some medical care to get rid of cancer. It won’t just go away. God’s Not Dead 2 still had some problems.

God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness changed up the formula. At first, it felt like it was going to be more of the same. The college where Pastor Dave had his church wanted to get rid of the church. An angry student vandalized the church which, in turn, caused the church to be destroyed in an explosion. It started out seeming like it was going to be about Christians being the victims when people should be following their religion anywhere and everywhere.

However, it became a movie about compassion and understanding. Pastor Dave learned from his brother that if one church were to be on school grounds, it would only be fair that churches of every denomination be on school grounds. He learned that if other denominations couldn’t have churches on school grounds, neither should his. Finally, he learned that even if his church was relocated, the congregation would follow. Pastor Dave learned to respect other people of different faiths and now knew that everyone deserved the same kind of love and respect, regardless of what higher power they believed in. God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness was about leaving that persecution complex behind.

A different take on the persecution complex came in Last Ounce of Courage. One man took a stand against the anti-Christmas movement. He believed that the world was erasing God from Christmas and, in turn, erasing God from the world. He was going to make a stand against the oppression and show people that Christmas and Christ go hand-in-hand. Crosses went back up on buildings. Nativity scenes were placed on lawns. Silent Night got its original lyrics back. Christ was coming back to Christmas in small town America.

The problem with Last Ounce of Courage’s victim stance was that they made seemingly insane arguments to prove their points. Take the Silent Night bit, for example. Apparently, the lyrics had to be changed to remove “holy night,” as if people were intentionally trying to remove any reference to religion from the song. I have never heard anyone not sing the standard lyrics to Silent Night. The other crazy argument was that schools wouldn’t allow people to have Bibles at all. Maybe I just don’t know American schools, but that sounds a little bit overboard. I get that they might not let you bring it into class and preach it. God’s Not Dead 2 made a similar argument in a more nuanced way. But to outright ban the Bible from school? It’s a book. If kids want to read, let them. Why would that be banned from school property?

Anyway, the last bunch of movies I want to write about inspired this whole discussion. They are three of the biggest religious films, if only because they were based on one of the most popular religious novel series of all time. Left Behind: The Movie, Left Behind II: Tribulation Force, and Left Behind: World at War were all about Christians being persecuted for their beliefs. They were the victims of something evil that tried to crush any form of Christianity. They were victims of the anti-Christ.

Left Behind: The Movie depicted the rapture and the events that immediately followed as people came to terms with their loved ones disappearing. The people left behind were old enough to believe in God but chose not to. Buck Williams (Kirk Cameron) was a reporter working on a piece about Chaim Rosenzweig (Colin Fox) and his work in Israel. They met Nicolae Carpathia (Gordon Currie), the future leader of the United Nations and the anti-Christ, as he was rising through the ranks of the United Nations.

The victimization of Christians wasn’t too apparent in the first Left Behind. There were elements of it, with Nicolae being revealed as the anti-Christ, but it was tame on that front for the most part. The Christians were the people raptured. They were gone. Left Behind was about the good people who were left behind who would turn to God and be able to fight the anti-Christ who would soon be wreaking havoc upon Earth. It was about finding faith, rather than other people trying to take that faith away.

That meant there would be a clear correlation between being Christian and being on the right side of the war. Only people who had faith in God could see through the illusions that Nicolae was putting up. Buck Williams was in a United Nations meeting where Nicolae killed two people. Nicolae then planted an image in people’s heads that one of the men had killed the other then himself, removing any of the blood from Nicolae’s hands. The only person that the new memory didn’t stick with was Buck because Buck had found his Christian faith. The anti-Christ’s magic couldn’t penetrate the power of faith. The sequels would elaborate on how Christian faith would save the world.

Left Behind II: Tribulation Force saw Buck Williams team up with Pastor Bruce Barnes (Lawrence Gilyard Jr.), and father and daughter Rayford Steele (Brad Johnson) and Chloe Steele (Janaya Stephens), three people who were also left behind in the first film. The new team, the tribulation force, would work together to stop Nicolae Carpathia from creating a one-religion, one-economy world. Rayford would use his piloting skills, while Buck would use his connections in the news world. They were going to reveal a bunch of Nicolae’s secrets to try and stop the world from following him.

The main conflict of Left Behind II: Tribulation Force was a combination of Christian victimization and the Christian faith being the good faith. The Christian victimization involved Nicolae trying to create a one-religion world. Nicolae wanted to be declared the Messiah by Rabbi Ben-Judah (Lubomir Mykytiuk). This would, in turn, erase the idea of Jesus being the Messiah. Christianity would be over. The remaining Christians would be erased by the anti-Christ. It was the ultimate way of Christians being oppressed by someone else. They were being oppressed by one of the most evil entities in their scripture, and it was working. Somewhat.

Christianity was still the most powerful thing in the world. Belief in God could conquer any form of evil. Buck renewed Rabbi Ben-Judah’s faith by taking him to see the Witnesses. They showed off their power with some cool fire breathing. When Rabbi Ben-Judah spoke his speech on international television, he believed the power of God once again and declared Jesus the true Messiah, ruining Nicolae’s plans once again. The world was saved by Christianity. Until it wasn’t.

By the time Left Behind: World at War came around, Nicolae had won a few battles. The world had been turned into a sort of warzone. The tribulation force joined up with President Gerald Fitzhugh (Louis Gossett Jr.) to stop Nicolae’s newest plan, poisoning Bibles that would then be stolen by the Christian uprising. The believers in God would be infected with a nasty disease that they wouldn’t know the cure for.

There were some clear instances of Christians being the victims of harassment and erasure throughout Left Behind: World at War. Nicolae was literally doing things that would kill Christians. The poisoned Bibles killed Bruce (Arnold Pinnock), a member of the Tribulation Force since the conclusion of the first film. The guards at the Bible warehouse killed Chris (David Macniven), Rayford’s old co-worker, who had joined the Tribulation Force in the second film. A bunch of masked raiders killed Vice President John Mallory (Charles Martin Smith) in a motorcade with President Fitzhugh. People were dying because of their Christian beliefs. Lives were being lost. It was as far as things could go without Christianity being lost and forgotten.

Christianity was still the good religion, though. As much as Nicolae had made some major strategic advancements in his war against the tribulation force, Christianity would still find a way to counter his anti-Christ ways. The disease had run rampant through many of the underground congregations. It led to Bruce’s death. On his deathbed, he performed one final communion. Chloe broke bread. She drank wine. She was healed through the power of Christ. It was the wine. Sadly, Bruce didn’t drink any and passed on. But they had a cure. Holy wine would save the day and kill the virus. Christianity saved the day, once again!

The Left Behind movies began with only small hints at the victimization that would become a huge part of the series. Things gradually got more about how Nicolae wanted to wipe out Christianity. But the series got there, and it got there in a bigger way than any of the other movies I mentioned. The other movies were about rebelling against a system that said people weren’t allowed to share their beliefs. The Left Behind movies got to a point where people were being killed over their beliefs. It was a big step up in terms of how serious things got.

Christian filmmakers have a habit of making people of their faith the victims in movies. Whether it’s a justified stance or not, it’s something that repeatedly happens throughout faith-based films. Christians get persecuted in one way or another due to their faith. Their belief in God is looked down upon by others to the point where they can’t discuss it, can’t celebrate it, or will die because of it. They fight to keep their faith. They never waver, as much as other people want them to. That is the basis of many faith films.

Christian films have become a major market of the movie business. They have a built-in audience of church-going folk who want nothing more than to see the Christians come out on top. They want to believe they are victims as much as they believe in God. They want to spread word that Christianity is good. Most of all, they want to see their people represented in a way where they look heroic, rather than the villains they have so frequently been throughout history.

The historical ramifications of religion are still affecting people today. Whether it be the sacrifices to Gods of ancient civilizations, or the colonization of more recent religions, there are still effects on modern society. Christianity can be good for some people. It can give them something to believe in, a form of purpose that they may have needed to keep their lives from unravelling. For that, it’s good. But to say there aren’t negative effects would be to lie. Faith-based movies frequently gloss over that negativity in a way that feels stunningly false. If you’re going to depict the good, you should also depict the bad. It’s only fair. It’s just. And isn’t being just what Christians should be?

Now for some notes:

• In this post, I mentioned Jonah: A Veggietales Movie (week 49), God’s Not Dead (week 230), God’s Not Dead 2 (week 230), God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness (week 319), and Last Ounce of Courage (week 369).
• Left Behind: World at War was directed by Craig R. Baxley. He also directed Stone Cold (week 423) and Sniper 2 (week 430).
• Louis Gossett Jr. made his seventh Sunday “Bad” Movies appearance in Left Behind: World at War. He was previously featured in Iron Eagle (week 90), Iron Eagle II (week 90), Aces: Iron Eagle III (week 90), Iron Eagle IV (week 90), Delgo (week 148), and Jaws 3-D (week 240).
• Kirk Cameron was one of the stars of the three Left Behind movies. He was also in Saving Christmas (week 212).
• Gordon Currie was in Friday the 13^th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (week 294) prior to playing Nicolae in the Left Behind movies.
• Janaya Stephens played Chloe Steele in the Left Behind movies. She was also in Death Race (week 9).
• Brad Johnson, David Macniven, and Chelsea Noble were in all three Left Behind movies.
• Phillip Jarrett appeared in Exit Wounds (week 93), The Stupids (week 188), and Left Behind: World at War.
• Left Behind: World at War was the third Sunday “Bad” Movies appearance of Russell Yuen, who was in Battlefield Earth (week 275) and The Adventures of Pluto Nash (week 446).
• Elias Zarou made appearances in Left Behind II: Tribulation Force and Left Behind: World at War. He was also in Police Academy 3: Back in Training (week 400).
• Seven actors were in Left Behind: The Movie and Left Behind II: Tribulation Force. They were Krista Bridges, Bob Carlisle, Christine Donato, Clarence Gilyard Jr., Christie MacFadyen, Mark Bradley Morrow, and Daniel Pilon.
• David Blacker and Peter Loung were in 54 (week 266) before Left Behind: The Movie.
• Philip Akin appeared in The Stupids (week 188) and Left Behind: The Movie.
• David Ferry was also in The Stupids (week 188). He showed up in Left Behind II: Tribulation Force.
• Louis Negin returned from 54 (week 266) to appear in Left Behind II: Tribulation Force.
• Eldridge Hyndman popped up in Exit Wounds (week 93) and Left Behind II: Tribulation Force.
• Police Academy (week 400) actor Roger Dunn was in Left Behind II: Tribulation Force.
• Finishing off Left Behind II: Tribulation Force, Jason Jones made a small appearance. He was also in All About Steve (week 409).
• Arnold Pinnock was the new Bruce in Left Behind: World at War. He was in Exit Wounds (week 93).
• Another actor from 54 (week 266), Laura Catalano, was in Left Behind: World at War.
• Finally, Left Behind: World at War featured Shaun Austin-Olsen from Battlefield Earth (week 275).
• Have you seen the Left Behind trilogy? Not the newer Nicolas Cage one or that teen movie one. The three Kirk Cameron movies. Have you seen them? What did you think? How do you feel about the Christian persecution storyline in so many Christian movies? Share your thoughts with me on Twitter or in the comments.
• I’m always open to suggestions about what I should be checking out. Let me know about movies I should be seeing in the comments or on Twitter.
• Don’t forget to check out Sunday “Bad” Movies on Instagram.
• Next week, I’ll be checking out the pop music of the late 90s. I’ll be taking a trip to the UK as I join the Spice Girls in their world. Yes, I’ll be seeing Spice World. I’ve never seen it before, so this should be interesting. I’ll be back next week with my thoughts about the movie. See you then!

Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

It’s the Fourth of July. I don’t celebrate it. I’m not going to say that I do. I’m Canadian. The American Independence Day doesn’t mean anything to me outside of the region in which I live typically having more visitors because it’s right on the border. That’s not happening this year. There’s some increased traffic because the Canadian long weekend is the same weekend, but it’s nowhere near the increased traffic of most years when the border is open.

That isn’t what this post is about, though. It’s not about tourism. It’s not about celebrating the independence of the United States. It’s about celebrating something else. This post is about a movie that celebrated the stopping of an alien invasion. It celebrated two men who bravely travelled through space in an alien spacecraft to give a bigger alien spacecraft a cold. A virus. This is about the sequel to the 1996 film Independence Day.

Twenty years after the events of Independence Day, Earth had created a defensive outpost on The Moon. The people stationed there, including pilots Jake Morrison (Liam Hemsworth); Dylan Hiller (Jessie T. Usher); Rain Lao (Angelababy); and Charlie Miller (Travis Tope), were tasked with watching out for another alien invasion. When a spacecraft bigger than they had ever seen destroyed the defensive outpost and began drilling to the Earth’s core, David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) rejoined forces with the government to try and save the world once again. Aided by Former President Whitmore (Bill Pullman) and Dr. Brakish Okun (Brent Spiner), they put together a plan to stop the new alien invasion or die trying.

Within that synopsis of Independence Day: Resurgence, the 2016 sequel to Independence Day, there were some interesting elements. There were things that could make a person think that this might be a good movie. It might be something worth making and something worth watching. To be fair, those ideas are interesting. They could have made for something entertaining if done well. They had the potential to be the foundation of a great science fiction disaster movie.

The most interesting aspect of Independence Day: Resurgence was the way Earth defended itself against future invasions. In the first Independence Day film, it was revealed that Area 51 was real. The United States had captured an alien spacecraft many years before and studies were being done to figure out how the craft worked and how the aliens were composed biologically. After the 1996 invasion had been halted, the research had rapidly progressed so that Earth could harness the alien technology for themselves. The defensive outpost on The Moon was designed with the alien technology in mind. The weapons were designed to penetrate the alien spacecrafts. The Moon base spacecraft was based off the design of the alien spacecraft. It showed world-building and technological progression that was greatly appreciated following a twenty-year gap between films and stories.

The other nice thing was the technological advancements of the film industry, itself. During the twenty years between Independence Day and Independence Day: Resurgence, there were some major advancements in the effects world. Practical effects took a back seat to computer generated stuff, which meant that the computer-generated stuff was refined over the two-decade period. In general, a computer-generated effect in 2016 would look better and more realistic than a computer-generated effect of 1996. It would be easier to destroy the world, and The Moon, on a bigger scale with modern CG work than the elaborate miniature work that would have been required in the past. Director Roland Emmerich had already dipped his toes in CG disaster work with The Day After Tomorrow and 2012. He had shown it could be done. He would show that same scale and creativity in Independence Day: Resurgence.

Finally, there were the returning characters to satisfy the audience’s wants and needs for a continuation to the 1996 film that they loved. Many of the surviving characters of Independence Day returned for a second outing. David Levinson and his father Julius Levinson (Judd Hirsch) were back. Jasmine Hiller (Vivica A. Fox) was back, as was her son Dylan. President Whitmore and his daughter Patricia (Maika Monroe) came back, as did Dr. Okum. It was a nice blend of returning, surviving characters, with newer characters who could try and fill whatever gaps were left in the ensemble cast.

The major problem with the new cast was that they couldn’t fill the gaps that the former cast left behind. President Whitmore took on the Russell Casse sort of role in the sequel, leaving open the role of world leader that nobody really filled. Constance Spano was gone without any real mention of why and was replaced with Catherine Marceaux (Charlotte Gainsbourgh). Charlie Miller filled the role that Jimmy Wilder played in the first film as the best friend of the main fighter pilot. Even the main fighter pilot was replaced, but I’ll get to that in a moment.

There were two cases of recasting that felt a little odd, but only from the stance that one of the previous actors was a recognizable face in Hollywood, to this day. The less important recasting was the role of Dylan Hiller. He was a child in the first film, played by Ross Bagley, who was a big child star at the time. By the time the sequel rolled around, he was essentially done with acting. He only had a few credits after the 1990s, so it made sense to maybe recast him with someone a little more recognizable to modern audiences. The other role of note was Patricia Whitmore, the former President’s daughter. The original actress was Mae Whitman, a child actress who would go on to have memorable roles in Arrested Development, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and The DUFF. She has had steady work since Independence Day and it felt weird to have her replaced my someone who, in my opinion, is less recognizable. It was strange.

The biggest gap in the cast of Independence Day: Resurgence, however, was that it was missing the presence of Will Smith. Much of the appeal of Independence Day hinged on the charismatic performance of Will Smith. He filled the shoes of the cocky fighter pilot. His character balanced out the film. There was the quirk of Jeff Goldblum, the leadership of Bill Pullman, the crazy of Randy Quaid, and the cocky bravery of Will Smith. Each of those elements balanced out the others so that nothing ever went too far in one direction. None of the new fighter pilots filled that Will Smith role, which led to an imbalance. Jeff Goldblum was doing his thing. Bill Pullman was switched to the Randy Quaid crazy role. The fighter pilots kind of filled the leader role. But nobody captured the cocky Will Smith role, which left a very large hole in the film.

Another major problem with the film was the story focus. The first film made sure that each of the main characters had things going on outside of the alien attack, and focused on those elements. David Levinson uncovered the true nature of the aliens and was in charge of saving the world. Steve Hiller was in a relationship that was strained because of his duty as a fighter pilot. President Whitmore’s wife died because of the alien attack. Russell Casse had been abducted by aliens, was seen as crazy for even thinking it, and wanted revenge when the aliens arrived. They had some emotional beats that drove them to save the world.

Independence Day: Resurgence had some of that. One of the more interesting elements it introduced, though the execution wasn’t the greatest, was that the people who had come into physical contact with the aliens had a mental connection with them. That led to some interesting mystery solving as Dr. Okum, President Whitmore, and Dikembe Umbutu (Deobia Oparei) had visions of aliens and symbols when the new attack happened. The new fighter pilots had some relationship drama between them, which gave them at least the smallest amount of stakes to play around with outside of simple life or death situations. Those ideas weren’t fleshed out enough, though. It felt like both the visions and the romances were there because the writers felt it necessary to have something, but they didn’t focus enough on those elements to make them worthwhile.

Instead, the time that could have gone to making those elements more engaging was spent with Julius Levinson, in a storyline that had zero effect over the outcome. He was on his boat when the giant spacecraft crashed into Earth. He got caught up in a tidal wave that should have killed him. It would have killed anyone else. It didn’t get him, though. A bunch of kids driving a station wagon found his boat on the side of the road. He was perched in a chair on it, unconscious. They took him in. He drove for them, then found more kids on a bus and started driving a bus full of kids. Eventually, he would meet up with his son outside Area 51 and they would outrun a falling giant alien in the bus. That was his whole storyline. There was no reason for him to drive a bus full of kids. There was no reason for the storyline. It didn’t have anything to do with the rest of the movie. It could have been cut out entirely and the only thing that would have changed was the bus outrunning the alien at the end.

There were a bunch of other, smaller things that didn’t quite work for Independence Day: Resurgence. The new President, played by Sela Ward, didn’t have the same sort of presence as President Whitmore, and was killed off-screen partway through the movie. It was unsatisfying. The computer-generated effects were fine, but there was focus on water when the spacecraft landed, and water effects still haven’t quite been perfected. There was a strange green-blue hue to most of the movie that felt a little off-putting. Many of the characters who died didn’t get any screen time to make their deaths mean anything. Much of what made the sequel fall flat, however, was in the replacement of the original characters and actors, and the lack of proper focus in the story.

Twenty years on, the sequel to Independence Day was a long-awaited disappointment. It didn’t live up to the expectations that anyone had for it. It underwhelmed in almost every way. Even the interesting aspects that had the potential to make something great fell flat. They weren’t explored as much as they should have been. The plans for a sequel to the sequel, which were laid out in the final moments of Independence Day: Resurgence, were scrapped when the critical consensus came in. If a third film were to be on the same level of quality of the second, nobody was going to want it. Might as well not make it.

Today is the Fourth of July. There are no aliens hovering over major landmarks around the world. Mind you, that would have been two days ago. Maybe it’s better to say there is no world army fighting back against alien invaders. There is no giant spacecraft drilling into the Earth’s core. Instead, we simply have the Golf of Mexico being lit on fire, showing that humans don’t need an outside force to destroy the planet. We can do that all by ourselves. Happy Fourth, I guess.

It’s time to close this post out with some notes:

• Independence Day: Resurgence was directed by Roland Emmerich, the same director who brought us Godzilla (week 282).
• Diezel Ramos appeared in Independence Day: Resurgence. He also appeared in Fant4stic (week 172), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (week 310), and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (week 310).
• Independence Day: Resurgence was Vivica A. Fox’s third Sunday “Bad” Movies appearance behind Batman & Robin (week 138) and Sharknado 2: The Second One (week 190).
• Johnny Otto also made his third appearance in Independence Day: Resurgence, following American Ultra (week 261) and The Snowman (week 431).
• Ten actors from The Ridiculous 6 (week 344) were in Independence Day: Resurgence. They were Richard Beal, Todd Bethke, Paul Caster, Jetto Dorsainville, Alan Humphrey, Catharine E. Jones, Justin Lotz, David Loving, Victoria L. Moya, and Michael E. Stogner.
• Deobia Oparei appeared in Independence Day: Resurgence. He also appeared in Death Race (week 9).
• Independence Day: Resurgence saw the return of Arturo Del Puerto, who was in 30 Nights of Paranormal Activity with the Devil Inside the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (week 10).
• Judd Hirsh made his second Sunday “Bad” Movies appearance in Independence Day: Resurgence. His other appearance was another sequel, Sharknado 2: The Second One (week 190).
• Alice Rietveld was in Fifty Shades of Black (week 219) and Independence Day: Resurgence.
• Ron Yuan has now been in two Sunday “Bad” Movies. They were Independence Day: Resurgence and Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (week 234).
• Bill Pullman is a recognizable face who appeared in both American Ultra (week 261) and Independence Day: Resurgence.
• Sela Ward played the present-day president in Independence Day: Resurgence. She also showed up in 54 (week 266).
• The person who followed her as president was played by William Fichtner. He previously appeared in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (week 310).
• Mckenna Grace played one of the kids in Independence Day: Resurgence. She also played one of the kids in Russell Madness (week 382).
• Finally, Charlotte Gainsbourg was in The Snowman (week 431) and Independence Day: Resurgence.
• Have you seen Independence Day: Resurgence? What did you think of it? Did I miss anything when discussing what it lacked that its predecessor had? Let me know in the comments or find me on Twitter and strike up a conversation.
• If there are any movies that you think I should cover for future Sunday “Bad” Movies posts, feel free to let me know on Twitter or in the comments. I’m always up for discovering new gems, whether they’re good or bad.
• If you head on over to Instagram, there’s always some fun stuff happening with Sunday “Bad” Movies.
• Next week, we head into a movie that isn’t paired up with a specific day. Well, a trilogy of movies. And that’s assuming that the rapture doesn’t become something real within the next week. I’ve ventured back to the early 2000s with a trilogy box set of the Left Behind films to see what those are all about. You’ll be able to read my thoughts in one week’s time. See you then! If we’re all still around, that is.