Review of Battle: Los Angeles (2011) by Alejandro J — 08 Aug 2014

BOOM. SOMETHING EXPLODED. QUICKLY, QUICKLY, LET US RUN WILDLY FOR FIVE MINUTES AND THEN BLOW SOMETHING ELSE UP IN RETALIATION.

If that sounded like a logical way to write a movie, then you'll probably find enjoyment in "Battle: Los Angeles", a jingoistic, brainless, uninteresting turd of a movie. The story follows an unexplained alien invasion (apparently they need to mine our water, which they were unable to find anywhere else in the known universe - putting their scientific abilities somewhere behind NASA's in sophistication), resulting in the destruction of the world's biggest cities. The last stand - Los Angeles. A group of marines are sent in to form the first line of defence against this invasion. In the middle of it all, Staff Sargeant Aaron Eckhart, who has skeletons in his emotional closet.

For the most part, Eckhart tries to make this film work for him, and the one star I've allocated is entirely for him. It's a shame to see Eckhart, who has proved his acting chops in "Thank You For Smoking" and "The Dark Knight", continue to appear in B-grade crap like this, surrounded by wooden performances from a cast that also includes Michelle Rodriguez.

The issue, though, seems to boil down to director Jonathan Liebesman, who appears to have watched Michael Bay's filmography and said "I loved it, but the dialogue was too heavy." It's just an excuse to watch mind-numbing explosions, and would be interesting only to the lowest possible denominator.

Horrid.