Review of Battle: Los Angeles (2011) by Gregory — 12 Mar 2011

"Battle: Los Angeles" certainly fails to meet the expectations of audiences who had been hoping for a dramatic, full-throttled alien invasion thriller. What audiences got was a hilarious and disjointed war melodrama with subversive elements that will insure the film's rank among "cult classics".

Try to imagine what it would be like if Ed Wood had signed on to direct "War of the Worlds" instead of Spielberg. That is what audiences should go in expecting. And whether it was the overuse of the wobbly rifle scopes---the deadpan delivery of sheer screwball dialogue---the inept acting punctuating decent action sequences---the G.

I. Joe-esqe delivery of Eckhart---the underwhelming alien presence---or the preposterous central premise of the film---I am not sure. But taken together, the film amounts to a gut busting exercise in unintentional parody.

...which, in the end, is what makes this film a surprise entertainment.