Battle: Los Angeles (2011)

An alien invasion film that brings the best of Science Fiction and War movies together, for an all out blast-em-up.

Aaron Eckhart plays marine Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz, who is nearing the end of his commitment to the U.S. military, when he is called back into action after some “meteorites” begin hitting the oceans near heavily populated areas. He soon learns, however, that what is actually hitting the water are murderous aliens hell-bent on colonizing the earth. Downtown Los Angeles soon becomes a war-zone like no other: with hordes of these metallic extraterrestrials leaping from rooftops taking shots at soldiers and civilians alike.

Nantz joins a battalion of soldiers whose mission it is to go into the battlefield of L.A and rescue as many civilians as they can, before the army drop a giant bomb on the area as their solution to killing these aliens.

The premise is suitably simple, not taking too much time to try and explain the ins and outs of why/how these creatures have got to earth, instead focusing on the hearty action of an incredible fighting power coming and kicking earth’s ass. This film has an unrelenting tempo that is not really science fiction, and is more reminiscent of war films. There are plenty of explosions, gun fights, outrageous stunts and heroic bravery. The movie is heavily patriotic, similar in essence to a film like Independence Day (1996), so if you don’t like Uncle-Sam rhetoric and “ooh-rahs”, then you will probably be cringing a bit during this film. Another let down was the aliens, not much in the way of originality, especially with the Predator-style clicking noise.

I must say though, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I went in to the film with low expectations, thinking it would be a load of CGI and explosions, and funnily enough that is what it was, but for some reason it made for a very entertaining watch. There were extremely sad moments, brilliant little pieces of character development, and an unshakable determination to make this film a constant war zone. It was two hours long, and didn’t drag at all.

Sequels and prequels may be an unfortunate result from this film, but this one is worth a watch if you like fast war film action and heroism.