"Against this backdrop Carpenter launches a visual effects fantasy that reaches heights so absurd that there's a giddy delight in the outrage. He generates heedlessness and joy in scenes such as the one where the hero surfs on a tsunami wave down Wilshire Boulevard and leaps onto the back of a speeding convertible. It's as if he gave himself license to dream up anything—to play without a net. This is the kind of movie “Independence Day” could have been if it hadn't played it safe."