Battle: Los Angeles Review

Another damn alien movie!

THE MOVIE: CRITIC'S TAKE

I saw the trailer and was instantly hooked right in. At first I thought it was the music but when I saw it again I noticed Michelle Rodriguez, Aaron Eckhart, and Bridget Moynahan. Figured it would be pretty good with these actors and the special effects. I have heard a bunch of mixed reviews about this movie but lets be honest with ourselves. What did you expect going in? An oscar contender? No. A movie with a great storyline? No. A movie that is suppose to make you feel for everyone involved? Hell no! This is a war action movie! That's all. If you entered the theater wanting to see anything but then maybe you need to rethink your choice in movies or just enjoy the movie for what it is.

STORY

It begins with the aging Aaron Eckhart trying to keep up with his new squad. His body wasn't having it and he had no choice but to expire his contract with the army. A decision he truly didn't want but was the right thing to do. Throughout the opening there was reports of meteors in the atmosphere approaching land. During this we learned a few things about the soldiers before the war started and that Aaron's character led a bunch of soldiers to their deaths during one of his last missions. Everyone knows about it and doesn't want him on their team once they get the call. They have no choice but to accept him when they were informed that the meteors aren't meteors but an invading army and their other second in command is on leave. You could have cut the tension with the knife.

Two face

Their first mission was to go to a police station and retrieve any survivors. They will have to do this in three hours because the air force will be unleashing all hell on Santa Monica. They believe that the aliens don't have an Air Force and they will be vulnerable to an air attack. When they enter the hot zone they come face to face with an enemy that doesn't know the meaning of death. A few of the soldiers gets injured during the fight. Luckily another squad joins them adding reinforcements. They manage to get the injured to the station and find five survivors withheld in them. The helicopter came but only took the injured soldiers leaving everyone behind. Turned out to be a good thing because the aliens did have an Air Force after all and destroyed the helicopter!

War

They had to come up with a new plan to get them all to safety. Luckily Aaron was smart enough to get one of the aliens and find their weak spot. Now with the new information they were ready for another show down. With a brave act from Aaron's character, and from one of the survivors, they managed to reach their new destination. A few key characters died along the way in ways that would have made them heroes. Unfortunately, their new destination was also destroyed by the aliens giving them a deep sense of grief.

This is hell

After a brief heart to heart the soldiers came to an understanding about Aaron's character and why he did what he did. Another rescue plane came and took them all on board. With the help from Michelle's character Aaron was able to find the command center and chose to stay behind and destroy it. All of his team made the same decision, not leaving him behind by himself. Together they were able to take down the command center in Los Angeles and stop the aliens. The sake of the entire world however is another story.

ACTING

For a war movie the acting was pretty good. Some of the side characters didn't come off as believable soldiers and the way they expressed their emotions were stale. The only character that was believable was Aaron's. He played the part well and made me want him to live. Everyone else could have their heads blown off and I wouldn't have cared. The chemistry between everyone was good enough for a film like this but you can tell for some it was just another pay check. Overall this movie wasn't made to be built around acting so don't expect much.

Jamaican Aliens

SPECIAL EFFECTS

I have to say I was disappointed with the special effects. They aren't bad but I've seen a lot better. Giving the trailer I knew the film would be filmed gritty and dirty but I expected better looking aliens and space crafts. They reminded me of garbage and a garbage can mutated together. It didn't look cool or gross. It just looked stupid. The battle scenes were good but everything else didn't look right or was just plain unflattering.

Modern Warfare 3?

WRITING AND DIRECTING

The movie was written by Christopher Bertolini and directed by Jonathan Liebesman. Chris tried to make this film into something else by adding side story lines and giving some back stories about the soldiers. This turned out to be a bad idea because I didn't care about any of that. From the looks of things neither did the people in the audience. He gave us some funny moments that gave the film some light but the actors weren't strong enough to deliver the emotions he wrote.

The directing was decent at best. I couldn't tell who was who and that shaky cam work has to go. I was able to see the battle scenes pretty well but I would like to know what soldier was firing at what. The feel of the movie was perfect for a war film though and it was the right move to keep the film dirty looking. It's not war if it isn't dirty.

I swear she's a lesbo

THE END

The movie is good overall. Just enter knowing what to expect. It's an action war movie nothing more. I liked the film and I think most people will too, if they come in with the right state of mind. It's a simple film and you won't be bored. Give it a try. You might like it...for what it is.



STORY 6 out of 10
ACTING 4 out of 10
SPECIAL EFFECTS 6 out of 10
WRITING 7 out of 10
DIRECTING 6 out of 10

OVERALL 6 (GIVE IT A TRY)