Mixed results for 2 white-knuckle thrillers

HEMSWORTH, GOLDBLUM. Settle old scores in “Independence Day: Resurgence”

LAST WEDNESDAY, we watched a midnight screening of Roland Emmerich’s “Independence Day: Resurgence”—and burned the midnight oil for . . . nothing much.

The director’s past films like “The Day After Tomorrow,” “White House Down” and 1996’s “Independence Day” may have been predictable and contrived, but they served their purpose and entertained viewers with their what-if scenarios and proficiently spun apocalyptic yarns.

This time around, “disaster film” takes on a different meaning—it’s an “action” movie that is as boring as it is bloated, with bland characters viewers hardly care about.

The latest installment in the franchise takes place 20 years after the events that transpired in “Independence Day,” with cocky Dylan Dubrow-Hiller (Jessie Usher), the son of Will Smith’s (now-deceased) character in the sci-fi original, assuming the action-hero mantle alongside US pilot Jake Morrison (Liam Hemsworth), whose parents were killed in the first attack.

Cheering them on are aging holdovers from the first film: Jeff Goldblum (as Earth Space Defense director David Levinson), Judd Hirsh (as David’s father), Vivica A. Fox (as Dylan’s mother) and Bill Pullman (as an “unhinged” former US president)—who watch in horror as Jake and Dylan figure out what to do with the latest extinction-level threat:

The extraterrestrial technology, salvaged from the remains of the alien forces, that Earth utilizes to run its global defense program is being used against them—and a larger and more powerful battle fleet, headed by the alien forces’ Harvester Queen, is on its way to even up the score!

Unfortunately, the film is weighed down by its distracting excesses, which undermine its otherwise compelling premise —and promise.

Anthony Hopkins

More fun and chill

Speaking of settling old scores, there’s more fun and chill to be had in Daniel Alfredson’s white-knuckle thriller, “Blackway,” retitled in its Philippine theatrical run as “Go With Me,” after the 2008 novel by Castle Freeman Jr. that inspired the movie.

The film follows aging ex-logger Lester (Anthony Hopkins) who, along with his laconic sidekick, Nate (Alexander Ludwig), comes to the rescue of new-girl-in-town Lilian (Julia Stiles), after she finds herself being stalked and harassed by former cop-turned-crime boss Blackway (the appropriately sinister Ray Liotta). But, even the police are scared of him!

With the production’s eerily picturesque Pacific Northwest locale helping set the mood, the film is a slow burn that banks on its cast’s fine portrayals, and cleverly utilizes the characters’ “relatable” back stories to explain why they bravely put their necks on the line—and bring the reviled but heretofore relentless bully to justice!