Review of Battle: Los Angeles (2011) by Yatzee27 — 16 Mar 2011

I thought this movie was great. Had a real authentic feel with the military, save a more relatable performance by Aaron Eckhart but still good. The effects were great, hiding the alien ships kinda like Paranormal Activity, the first one, not the second one where you already know what's going on.

There were a few too many characters, but most of them get killed off before it becomes too much of a problem. My thing was that this was probably the closest video game movie I've ever seen. You start out in a street shootout, then shootout in/around the police station, then a driving section, stealth section to take down the drone, a big bridge battle where the enemy brings out a big gun machine/boss character, then another driving section, another stealth section, then a survival section where you try and stay alive until the missile hits including another boss mech, and finally the big push where they rush the enemy.

It was almost eerie. My biggest problem was the pacing. Since the battles are so hectic and cluttered, it really feels long. But what I loved most about it was the character evolution that happens with Eckhart.

The Sergeant is put through a major catastrophe and through it he realizes that despite his previous failures he still belongs in the Marines. If you look for it, there's a personal story in here. But all in all, a very good movie.