Review by Matt Rodriguez
Sports Editor
Rating:2/5
“Battle: Los Angeles” visualizes its thin script through high-speed editing and up-close cameras that sprint along with humans on the run. Featuring frequent battle sequences on the ground and aerial attacks, the film achieves a simulation of visceral, tightly quartered urban combat. But with basically no plot and cheesy dialogue, “Battle: Los Angeles” disappoints.
Directed by Jonathan Liebesman (“The Texas Chainshaw Massacre”) with a screenplay by Christopher Bertolini, the film displays a Marine regiment as they try to regain Los Angeles after an alien invasion.
The script lacked any real emotion. You would think it would be impossible to write a bad script for a war movie, but somehow Bertolini succeeded.There are corny jokes throughout the film which a viewer wouldn’t think would occur during the uproar of war.
The plot copies every other alien-invasion flick. Aliens land on Earth, kill people, and then the humans defeat them. Like always.
However, unlike other alien films, I wanted the aliens to win. The one-dimension characters failed to deliver any emotional moments. In fact, they annoyed me so much, I cheered whenever one died.
Not even talented actors like Aaron Eckhart (“Thank You For Smoking”) or Michelle Rodriguez (“Fast and the Furious”) could save this film. Eckhart worked as a believable war hero, but the script prevented him from truly shining. And Rodriguez, known for her roles in action films, was underutilized and did not have much of a role in this fast-paced film.
“Battle: Los Angeles” is an entertaining if unimaginative war film, but anyone expecting anything else from it are watching the wrong movie.
