History YMMV / IndependenceDayResurgence

** A 10 year war between African Warlords and Aliens? Nope, no great story ideas there!

* ToughActToFollow: The original movie was a massive success and one of the most well-known movies of TheNineties. This one unfortunately failed to follow the original's footsteps.

* ToughActToFollow: The original movie was a massive success and one of the most well-known movies of TheNinties. This one unfortunately failed to follow the original's footsteps.

* BrokenBase: Will Smith not being in the movie. Some feel the movie can work fine without him but others feel him not being in it is a major detriment, to the point where some have refused to watch the film because of it (and likely was a problem for this film at the box office). Still [[TakeAThirdOption others]], after the fiasco that was ''Film/AfterEarth'' are ''glad'' he isn't in it.

* EsotericHappyEnding: [[spoiler: At the end of the film, the heroes manage once again to defeat the invaders yet they still lost all space stations, all satellites and many countries were wiped out not to mention that other aliens might return.]]

** If a ''{{Anime/Robotech}}'' film ever actually gets off the ground, it will need some serious re-plotting (or just flat-out skip the ''Macross'' and ''Masters'' storylines) to avoid this trope.
** [[spoiler:An ancient, enigmatic white sphere that seeks out alien races to uplift, at the head of a cosmic battle against an unstoppable and genocidal enemy? Is this a ''{{VideoGame/Destiny}}'' movie?]]
** Somehow the movie manages to take most of the plot points from the 1992 Dragon Ball Z animated movie ''Clash!! The Power of 10 Billion Warriors'' US release name: ''The Return of Cooler''. An alien invasion where a hive mind comes to steal a planet's molten core in order to power its machines, and is stopped [[spoiler:with the help of a benign alien third party]]. The image of the alien ship is also an almost shot-for-shot remake of the Big Ghetti Star hovering over New Namek.

* BrokenBase: Will Smith not being in the movie. Some feel the movie can work fine without him but others feel him not being in it is a major detriment, to the point where some have refused to watch the film because of it. Still [[TakeAThirdOption others]], after the fiasco that was ''Film/AfterEarth'' are ''glad'' he isn't in it.

** The big StirringSpeech about how all of humanity is able to put race, creed, culture, etc. aside to fight as one against the aliens comes off as rather sad given that, since the film's release in July 2016, these very issues have increasingly divided people to often gruesome levels.

** Dr. Okun has become the most popular returning character thanks to Brent Spiner clearly having a blast being back, and the positive portrayal of his relationship with Dr. Isaacs.

* UnexpectedCharacter: Many viewers presumed that Doctor Brakish Okun died after being used by a PuppeteerParasite in the previous movie. As it turns out, he was in a 20-year coma and is just now waking up.

** Quite a bit could have been built upon (even just building out the world) with a big-budget miniseries (think Amerika from the 1980s, for example) or another format more friendly to added screentime. An ExpandedUniverse in this world would be fascinating, from exploring how the world copes with such a devastating event to how each nation rebuilds its destroyed cities and recovers.

* MagnificentBitch: The Harvester Queen. Not only does she bring enough firepower to take on the entire Earth, she also has the wits to use it. Throughout the movie, the Queen is shown unveiling countermeasures for pretty much ''everything'' the humans throw at her, and is completely relentless in her pursuit of the Earth's core and ''especially'' [[spoiler:The Sphere]]. As a result, it can be hard to not admire her just a little bit.

* PinballProtagonist: The necessity of Jake's character and role in the film is questionable. Everything he does is at someone else's behest (apart from the "cleaning up his own mess" scene, which the film wouldn't have suffered without) and Charlie could've been the main character for all the moon scenes. Also see TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter below.

* HypeBacklash: A sequel to the original film was ''twenty years'' in the making and was marketed aggressively as the film that would match or even outdo its predecessor. Ultimate consensus however found the film to be utterly subpar to the first in spite of its flashy action and effects, with audiences finding it to be merely watchable at best and utterly uninteresting and uninspired at worst.

* ReplacementScrappy: Virtually no love at all was given for Maika Monroe after replacing Mae Whitman as Patricia Whitmore. While much of the new cast falls into this trope[[note]]Although, considering [[HypeBacklash how well]] [[{{Sequelitis}} this film]] was received, there's an argument to be made that the replaced actors dodged a bullet.[[/note]], Monroe's case is Egregious due to the fact that Whitman is now a very popular actress while Monroe was panned for her flat and uninteresting character (despite praise from her previous works Film/TheGuest and Film/ItFollows). Hell, even Anna Kendrick was also [[https://twitter.com/AnnaKendrick47/status/593109572379942912 vocal]] of Patricia's recasting.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: A 10 year war between African Warlords and Aliens? Nope, no great story ideas there!

* TrappedByMountainLions: Julius' cross-country adventure does nothing to advance the plot at all.

* PinballProtagonist: The necessity of Jake's character and role in the film is questionable. Everything he does is at someone else's behest (apart from the "cleaning up his own mess" scene, which the film wouldn't have suffered without) and Charlie could've been the main character for all the moon scenes. [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter Also, nearly everything Jake does could have been done by Dylan; he's an established fighter pilot whose skill matches Jake's, he lacked Jake's Glory Hound traits seen in the backstory and the story arc with his mother Jasmine's death could've been explored more thoroughly making for his character arc. Dylan could also have been the fiance to Patricia rather than Jake; Dylan and Patricia have a history since they met in the first movie at Area 51, their fathers are war hero fighter pilots who passed on their love of flying (this could've led to plenty of opportunities for socialization) and (if one wants to go in that direction) a mixed-race couple (Charlie and Rain don't even agree to date or kiss until the end of the movie) would've been a good statement of how accepting and diverse the world had become.]]

** Charlie's interest in, and attempts to flirt with, Rain straddle the line between this and creepy for some (if not falling into NarmCharm).

* PinballProtagonist: The necessity of Jake's character and role in the film is questionable. Everything he does is at someone else's behest (apart from the "cleaning up his own mess" scene, which the film wouldn't have suffered without) and he's not shown to be particularly more skilled than any of the other pilots. Also, nearly everything he does could have been done by Dylan; he's an established fighter pilot whose skill matches Jake's, he lacked Jake's GloryHound traits seen in the backstory, the story arc with his mother Jasmine's death could've been explored more thoroughly making for a more compelling story arc. Dylan could've even been the fiance of Patricia rather than Jake; Dylan and Patricia have a history since they met in the first movie at Area 51, their fathers are war hero fighter pilots and (if one wants to go in that direction) a mixed-race couple would've been a good statement of how accepting and diverse the world had become. After all that Charlie could've been the character for all the moon scenes.

** Dr. Brakish Okun and Dr. Isaacs from the get-go are clearly an item. Isaacs took care of Okun's comatose body for twenty years and even attempted to knit him a sweater, and [[spoiler: Okun is devastated when Isaacs is killed by the aliens.]]

* {{Sequelitis}} / ToughActToFollow: General opinion seems to be that the film isn't as good or fun as the original film, and it was poorly received as a result.

** Quite a bit could have been built upon (even just building out the world) with a big-budget miniseries (think Amerika from the 1980s, for example) or another format more friendly to added screentime. An ExpandedUniverse in this world would be fascinating, from exploring how the world copes with such a devastating event to how each nation rebuilds its destroyed cities and recovers.

** Dr. Okun happily declares that they're going to kick alien ass in a sequel, but unfortunately, the film was a financial disappointment, rendering chances for a sequel unlikely (although [[http://www.denofgeek.com/uk/movies/independence-day/44614/independence-day-3-meeting-next-week-tv-now-an-option Roland Emmerich is thinking about bringing the film franchise to television]]). Talk about TemptingFate.

** Dr. Okun happily declares that they're going to kick alien ass in a sequel, but unfortunately, the film was a financial disappointment, rendering chances for a sequel unlikely. Talk about TemptingFate.

* ReplacementScrappy: Virtually no love at all was given for Maika Monroe after replacing Mae Whitman as Patricia Whitmore. While much of the new cast falls into this trope[[note]]Although, considering [[HypeBacklash how well]] [[{{Sequelitis}} this film]] was received, there's an argument to be made that the replaced actors dodged a bullet.[[/note]], Monroe's case is Egregious due to the fact that Whitman is now a very popular actress while Monroe's portrayal was panned for her flat and uninteresting character (despite praise from her previous works Film/TheGuest and Film/ItFollows). Hell, even Anna Kendrick was also [[https://twitter.com/AnnaKendrick47/status/593109572379942912 vocal]] of Patricia's recasting.

* {{Sequelitis}}: General opinion seems to be that the film isn't as good or fun as the original film, and it has earned poor reviews from critics and audiences alike.

* ReplacementScrappy: Fans were ''very'' displeased with Maika Monroe replacing Mae Whitman as Patricia Whitmore, especially considering the fact that Whitman is now a very popular actress while Monroe's performance was criticized as flat and uninteresting (Despite positive comments about how she did in Film/TheGuest and Film/ItFollows). Even Anna Kendrick herself was [[https://twitter.com/AnnaKendrick47/status/593109572379942912 critical]] of the decision to recast Patricia. Essentially, she's an inversion of ThePeteBest.
** Much of the new cast for each of the characters they portray, really.[[note]]Although, considering [[HypeBacklash how well]] [[{{Sequelitis}} this film]] was received, there's an argument to be made that the replaced actors dodged a bullet.[[/note]]

** After the film comes out, it turns out that it could manage to be the best ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' film as well. [[spoiler: With the third act that reveals a member of another advanced, ''much'' more benign alien species that also fell victims to the aggressive aliens, and its survivors travel through the stars, guiding other species to form a resistance against the unstoppable enemy, eventually finding potential in [[HumansAreSpecial humanity]] after we succeeded in fending off the aliens' attacks [[TheDeterminator against all odds]], and chose us to be the tip of the spear to take the fight back to the enemy, [[SequelHook paving the way for our interstellar travel]]]].

** "We're gonna kick some serious alien ass!" As the closing line of the film, it's definitely not up there with "Didn't I promise you fireworks?"

** President Lanford is the 45th President of the United States and the first woman president, succeeding a black 44th President. Emmerich clearly expected Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate in 2016, to win, which didn't come to pass.