Look, I'll be straight with you: this movie is bad. Not 'so bad it's good' bad, just boring bad.

The original Independence Day (1996) was campy fun with memorable characters and genuine stakes. This 2016 sequel is a soulless CGI fest that forgot to include a reason to care. Critics savaged it (28% on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences rejected it (30% audience score), and even sci-fi fans on Letterboxd gave it a dismal 2.1/5.

Content-wise, it's fine for ages 12-13+. The PG-13 violence is standard alien-invasion fare (cities destroyed, people threatened but deaths mostly implied), and there's some profanity and one brief revealing-nightgown scene. Nothing shocking for middle schoolers.

But here's the thing: even if your kid loves alien movies, they'll probably be bored. The characters are cardboard, the plot is paint-by-numbers, and the whole thing feels like a cash-grab trading on nostalgia. If you want a family sci-fi night, rewatch the 1996 original or pick literally any other recent blockbuster. This one's a skip.