Independence Day: Resurgence: The Official Movie NovelizationAudiobook review by Paul Fiander
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Written by: Alex Irvine
Narrated by: William Hope Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins Publisher: Audible Studios |
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Why Should I…..Listen to Independence Day: Resurgence
When it comes to over the top storytelling then the Independence Day formula.seems to be bigger is better and better means meaner. This started with the destroyers in the first film and continues in this novelization. The more nuanced storytelling of the prequel title Independence Day: Crucible has largely been left behind for spectacle and a spot of aeronautic wizardry. This is a shame in some ways but thankfully the action is breathtaking and is sure to please those who enjoyed the summer blockbusterishness of the original film. William Hope continues his narration and gives a strong performance as always. This is a change of writer with Alex Irvine taking over the duties, but his reworking of the film seems to owe quite a bit to the desired spectacle of the film. All in all this is a nice bookend to ID: Crucible that lays the action on with lashings of verve. |
Review
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The world is in trouble again, this could be a spoiler for some stories but let's just face it you hear Independence Day you expect nasty Aliens. In this regard Independence Day: Resurgence does not disappoint, you get the baddies as you would expect as well as some other hazards thrown in the path of humanity.
One of the key ideas for the story is the preparedness of Earth this time around. From advanced hybrid Alien fighters spaceships to bases on the Moon and beyond the rule seems to be we will beat you with shock and awe and a heavy dose of human pluckiness. The defence of the Earth comes under the hand of David Levinson who has become the director of Earth Space Defence. The character has the feel of the Jeff Goldblum performance from ID:4 without his actual presence. This is important as he is the one of the main surviving characters from the original film. Aside from Levinson there are four other man characters in this ensemble piece three are the young bucks In Dylan Hiller, Amanda Whitmore and Jake Morrison the third is Amanda Whitmore. These three were thrown together in ID:Crucible and were part of not only the training for the Earth Space Defence Air Force but also something of a love triangle. Although a little obvious it still felt like the motivations of the characters involved were true especially Dylan’s. The last central player is Tom Whitmore, the former president has been slowly spiraling into something akin to a Mental Disorder. This is handled as you would expect with those around him trying to protect him as he was a former leader of the USA. His journey is interesting and he writing allows the character to remain front and centre throughout the book.
One of the biggest shames is the lack of focus on some of the newer characters from ID:Crucible namely Rain Lao and Dikembe Umbutu. By watering down their relevance the story becomes an American story again and less of a global initiative. The story does make a few stops out of the US but these are few and far between. Although this makes sense, this is an American film created for an American then Global audience. It would just be nice to spread the story around a greater range of backgrounds. The story is set in 2016 so 20 years after the initial invasion and we are still learning more about the Alien Race that almost destroyed us. There is however opposition to the way some governments have behaved since the attack along the lines of dissent due to increased taxes being used to fund Earth Space Defense. Quite obviously this turns out to be a false complaint as an Alien ship comes back into the fray. From here on out we get a heavy dose of heroic quips, battles in space on earth and between some on the central characters. The story does a good job of laying on the action but a little part of me wanted to see the dog fights on the big screen. The narration is by William Hope a very talented narrator responsible for ID:Crucible as well as the Aliens title and over 70 other Audiobooks. His voice is always clear though he does have a tendency to soften the end of sentences especially at more emotional moments, When I see his name attached to a performance I generally know I will be entertained and get a strong performance. For this movie novelization we have a new writer in Alex Irvine, he replaces Greg Keyes and works well within the confines of the film's narrative. The previous title Independence Day: Crucible felt freer in terms of narrative as the action was wound down in order to look at the survival of earth and its continual existence. Admittedly this would have been a pretty slow film but made for an interesting listen. Together the books are stronger so my advice would be to listen to Crucible first. |
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Review copy and Cover Image courtesy of Publisher
