jason stives makes his pop-break debut, reviewing a movie he believes would make a better video game …
Let’s face it: Most critics are incredibly unkind when it comes to action films, even more so to alien invasion films. While I will admit a great alien invasion film takes certain criteria to make it work, in the context of a military style action film it can be overlooked as long as it holds up in all its elements. Battle: Los Angeles, the latest flick from director Joseph Liebesman (Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning), succeeds at being a bit unoriginal but hits a home run in being fast-paced, loud, and just overly indulgent to the senses then it does to the actual content of the film.
No doubt there has been much ridicule going into the release of B: LA, mainly surfacing on similarities to a film that came out five months earlier, the critically panned Skyline. While I could understand optimal similarities and cliché setup and plot points, B: LA offers two things Skyline faltered on: character and atmosphere.
Let’s get the formulaic tendencies of this movie out of the way first. The marine platoon that are the guiding force of this film are set up with cliché backstories and cheesy dialogue, but those things drive the interaction with the characters in the film, if not on a subtle ground. You have the retiring soldier with a bad reputation and a grizzled past; in this case, Staff Sergeant Michael Nanz played by the always wonderful yet never fully appreciated Aaron Eckhart. Nanz has leering eyes from the people in his platoon, and even when he is taking orders from the upstart leader with something to prove in 2nd Lt. William Martinez (Ramon Rodriguez), it’s still a sticking point for these newcomers. You have the female tech soldier trying to show her worth past her title (Michelle Rodriguez) and the soldier planning his future wedding (R&B artist Ne Yo) and the characters you have seen in other films just keep piling up. There is not much work in their stories outside of Eckhart’s, but it acts as a way to lead you through the film and feel that you have already become familiar with them. At the same time, if given the chance the likable characters could have been given room to breathe, but in a film so focused on living up to its title, it just never happens. Oh well.
The lack of backstory to these characters works well for the purpose of how quick Liebesman throws you into the battle. At best, there are maybe 15 minutes of preparation in showing the characters and giving the situation of what is going on in the skies of the world. A series of meteorites are seen hurling themselves towards the Earth in various locations around the world (mainly major cities, surprise, surprise). Except the big difference is they are slowing down before they hit, and it becomes very clear that they are being invaded by non terrestrial beings. Very much like watching the invasion of Normandy, the aliens hit and immediately begin a ground assault on the beaches of Santa Monica. Now evacuated, Nanz and Martinez are in charge of leading several platoons through the streets of Santa Monica to rescue any lagging civilians before the military bombs it. Of course, they are given a three hour window, which leaves a feeling in the back of one’s head, as always, of will they make it out alive.
The rest of the film writes itself, and while as an action film it hits all the right adrenaline marks and is extremely claustrophobic in the beginning, it takes itself too damn seriously. Outside a few lingering crude jokes, it’s all battle, no development. You even get the obligatory shaky camera for all the important ground battle sequences. It’s a little too much to expect award-winning cinematography, so don’t anticipate it, but when in close corners, it works fine to create mystery around your initial impressions of the aliens. Otherwise, don’t expect any Oscar-worthy editing. Then there are the aliens themselves, which honestly are not the most inventive looking things but are effective as an enemy force. Think the droid soldiers from Stars Wars: Phantom Menace but more organic and with layers of armor — lots of layers as you find out. They also suffer from the same motive: colonization. While I would expect that since they are an invading force, it’s the equivalent of what Lex Luthor is always cooking up in Superman films: a real estate scheme, not too original.
It may sound like there is more than enough wrong with the film, but in actuality it’s a lot of enjoyable popcorn film features: It’s quick, it’s loud, and it’s engaging. In the end, Battle: Los Angeles tries too hard to be two kinds of films but somewhere in the middle, a casual film goer and one who enjoys a lot of explosions and fire fights will greatly appreciate what it has to offer. Is it a great alien invasion film? No, but at the same time there are more layers psychologically to seeing an invasion. This is just a ground assault with E.T. Battle: Los Angeles wants so hard to be both Black Hawk Down and Independence Day, but in the end it must settle for being a highly enjoyable action flick with something a little more to offer.
