There are few original ideas in Hollywood. They tend to cycle through particular genres every 10 years. It’s time again for alien invasion movies. And no, I don’t mean illegal alien invasion movies. With Battle:LA, Skyline, Paul, Men in Black 3(next year), and Super 8 we are getting the cinematic equivalent of a probe that may or may not be welcome.
Battle: Los Angeles stars Aaron Eckhart as “Staff Sergeant.” He is pulled out of retirement to lead a group of faceless marines who distrust him because he apparently got his last division killed in battle. When the alien soldiers strike LA, they are pulled into the fight. That’s the story. Yep, that’s it. I know I shouldn’t be too critical because it’s essentially a war movie, but there is literally nothing to this movie. And when they do decide to get sentimental it doesn’t carry over because the writing and acting is so poor.
Aaron Eckhart carries the movie. The rest of the battalion are so forgettable that when they start dying, you forget they were ever there. Sure, the beginning of the movie tries to set up their backstories: Guy getting married, virgin, token asian, guy whose wife is pregnant, etc. All I’m saying is that they’re pretty standard and I felt myself rooting for some to bite the dust. Is it wrong that I wanted Michelle Rodriguez to die so much?
I actually did like some things about this movie. The aliens were actually vulnerable to guns and it felt like a real war, rather than shooting at forcefields the whole time. The standoff on the freeway was pretty intense and had me caring about the movie for a brief time.
This movie is perfect for those people who want a non-stop ride but don’t want the hassle of thinking. There are explosions-a-plenty and lots of dying, so I think this movie definitely has an audience. This might be the best recruitment video I’ve seen for the marines yet. I give Battle NCIS CSI: Los Angeles 2 silver stars, barely.
