Movie Review: “Battle LA” Worth Fighting For?

If you’ve seen Independence Day, Transformers, Speed or played Halo, you’ve seen Battle LA.

The movie kicks off with urgent news report announcing the “world is at war” as U.S. Marines ready to fight an unknown enemy mobilizing in the sky and oceans. Space aliens have conquered nearly every major city in the world and surprisingly, Los Angeles remains up for grabs. Turns out, the aliens are after our water supply…and it’s up to America to stop them from colonizing Earth.

Really, really, really brief backgrounds are sort of established with the principle platoon members as the film follows Aaron Eckhart’s character, Marine Staff Sergeant Nantz. Staff Sgt. Nantz is preparing to retire after a rough mission that left several of his men dead. Leading a group of untrusting Marines, the story focuses on his mission to prove himself.

Eckhart actually broke his arm filming Battle LA, but it’s the audience left broken in yet another “alien v. Earth” story that has a better trailer than plot. Michelle Rodriquez, Bridgette Moynahan, Jim Parrack (cute little Hoyt from True Blood) and Ne-Yo top off this overly crowded cast. Directed by Johnathan Liebesman, the film appeals visually, but doesn’t leave enough for character development.

Unfortunately, eighth grade writing rounds out this mess of a storyline and audiences are treated to some great lines: “Take out anything that’s not human,” and “maybe I can help…I’m a vet” will have you laughing when you’re not supposed to. However, the writing may be set to match the video game action, but the story line is about as fresh as month old milk.

Ever notice how amazing it is that aliens can nearly wipe out mankind, but television stations are always still up & running while the sky is falling? I have a two part theory on that: 1) News reporters, anchors and producers are apparently much tougher than any military force and 2) Space aliens should really do their research and aim to take out Atlanta first.

The saving grace of Battle LA is that it is a beautiful film. It’s nice to see photographers that worked on FX’s The Shield got jobs after the series ended. Battle LA is full of great camera shots, action packed sequences and cool special effects. Visually, you won’t be disappointed!