Battle: Los Angeles takes the sci-fi spectacle of alien invasion movies like Independence Day and War of the Worlds and combines it with the gritty realism of combat films like Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down.
Battle: LA opens promisingly enough as the invasion is in full force and Earth's armies are in disarray. Cities have fallen and casualties are numerous. Then, the rug gets pulled out from under the audience. Yes, this is one of those movies that starts in the middle of the story, and then takes you back to the beginning in order to slowly introduce the main characters. Not the best example, but Predators knew how to do it right. Don't bother with a lengthy prologue; just drop the characters (and the audience) right into the thick of things. Flesh the characters (however thin) out through their actions while moving the story forward, rather than stopping it dead for extended dialogue scenes. But, I digress.
Aaron Eckhart is SSgt. Michael Nantz, who is putting in for retirement following a disastrous tour in the Middle East when he lost all the Marines under his command. That retirement is nixed when meteorites begin raining down on Earth. Nantz is assigned to a platoon out of Camp Pendleton and headed up by Lt. Martinez (Ramon Rodriguez), a fresh face straight out of officer school. The Marines initially believe they are to assist with emergency efforts. They are horrified when news footage shows alien forces laying waste to the beaches of Santa Monica.
The platoon are dropped into L.A. and tasked with rescuing any civilians taking shelter inside a nearby police precinct house. Their group takes heavy losses during an alien ambush and barely makes it to the police station. Along the way, they join up with a ragtag group of survivors from other military branches, including Air Force Tech Sgt. Elena Santos (Michelle Rodriguez). Inside the building, they find only two orphaned children, Joe Rincon (Michael Pena) and his son Hector (Bryce Cass), and a veterinarian (Bridget Moynahan).
I'd describe the Marines in greater detail, but I honestly couldn't remember anything specific about most of them. The platoon is a diverse mix of soldiers from many backgrounds, including a Nigerian medic and another Marine (played by pop singer Ne-Yo) nicknamed Specs because of his thick black-rimmed glasses. There's a fellow from Jersey, a confident sharpshooter, a rookie who has yet to see combat, and Michelle Rodriguez in the Michelle Rodriguez role. I'm surprised they didn't trot out the guy who dies five minutes after showing everyone a picture of his girl back home. One soldier suffers from post-traumatic stress, but aside from an early scene in his psychiatrist's office, it never comes up again probably because it was redundant of Nantz's subplot.
Making the characters further indistinguishable is the fact they are dressed in full combat gear along with the heavy use of handheld cameras. Luckily, the battle scenes aren't as nauseating as some of Paul Greengrass's work. I've gotten use to seeing shaky camera work for action sequences, but not for ordinary dialogue scenes. When Nantz speaks to his CO, the camera bobs and weaves to dizzying effect.
Unable to generate any genuine emotion, the filmmakers go for cheap tactics such as throwing children off bridges and cutting to close-ups of their crying faces whenever possible. The clichéd characters speak in a continuous stream of clichés along the lines of, "Don't die on me now, man," "Give this to my wife…," "Nobody gets left behind," "America, f**k yeah!" In the end, Eckhart delivers a stirring speech to rally the men and it's a credit to the actor he was able to lift it above the inherent pandering jingoism. With his good looks and cleft chin, Eckhart is suitably cast as the all-American G.I. Joe.
Battle: Los Angeles is on par with watching someone play Call of Duty for two hours with the volume on full blast. If you're the forgiving sort who is only in it for cool special effects and lots of explosions, Battle: Los Angeles will offer you the thrills of a summer blockbuster three months early.
Rating: ** (*****)
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