> TEOTWAWKI Blog: Review: Battle: Los Angeles

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3/11/11

Review: Battle: Los Angeles

Summer starts early with Battle: Los Angeles, an action-packed alien/disaster movie. Some great visual effects and lots of action. Nothing particularly memorable, distinct or remarkable about it, but a totally watchable and engaging movie.

The guy who played Two-Face (Aaron Eckhard) is a marine a few days from retirement. He's been there, done that and has been scared by the death of men under his command. His retirement plans have to wait, though, as alien invaders from outer space decide to hit, intent on stealing earth of its precious water. Mankind, of course, must go.

Two Face is put in charge of a bunch of indistinct, completely forgettable marines and sent to go rescue some civilians holed up inside a police station. Nothing, of course, goes according to plan. The film follows the marines closely--we only see the unfolding war of the worlds from their perspective.

I read someone equating the movie to a mashup of Blackhawk Down and District 9, which is pretty accurate, though both Blackhawk and D9 were much better movies. That's not to say Battle: Los Angeles is bad. There's lots of action and cool special effects. The CG is very good. There are a few jump moments. There are certainly plenty of good ingredients, but there's no special extra. Battle: LA is just a bit predictable, routine and generally forgettable.

If you're looking for a movie to go see this weekend, by all means, check it out. Battle: Los Angeles isn't a must see, but it's not a bad time, either.