Everybody thinks that there are meteors headed to Earth. But soon it’s discovered that it’s Alien spaceships that are attacking all the major cities on the coasts of North America and the other continents, including Los Angeles. And it’s up to the Marines to stop them.
It’s a pretty simple plot, so for “Battle: Los Angeles” to work the action has to be great, the characters have to be interesting and the story must be at least somewhat believable. “Battle: LA” goes three for three.
There’s a little back story at the beginning when we learn a little about the half-dozen or so characters who are going to be the main focus of the film. Aaron Eckhart plays Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz, who’s about to retire but is forced to stick around one more day when the alien attack begins. Even though he’s not in charge of the unit he involved with, it’s only a matter of time before he takes over. The rest of the troops are a variety of young men, some anxious to fight, others a little scared. And they all have not idea what they’re about to deal with.
Once the invasion begins it’s non-story shooting, killing, screaming, running. The action is intense, but it definitely kept my attention for 2-hours. There are a few surprises along the way, but the plot is pretty predictable (After all, it’s not like we’re going to lose to aliens).
The look of the film is pretty realistic. It’s shot in the hand-held, news style, which is appropriate. The occasional wide shots of LA look like miniatures (which I’m sure they were). The actual scenes were shot in Louisiana. The Aliens themselves look pretty similar to other aliens from other movies, but that didn’t bother me. They’re creepy and scary so it works.
Yes, at times “Battle: LA” is corny. Yes, there are scenes with Marines saving little kids or escaping trouble in a huge bus that should have been blown to bits by an Alien spacecraft. But that’s O.K. You know this isn’t “The King’s Speech” going in, so don’t expect an award-winning script or performances, just a fun movie with plenty of action – and “Battle: LA” delivers.
On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, “Battle: Los Angeles” gets a B. It’s an all-out, non-stop war-fest. I was hoping it would do better in the box office than it did, so that the battle could continue in other cities. That probably won’t happen, so enjoy this one.