Review

Review Date: 13-March-11
Spoiler Rating: Low
Juju Judgment: Just OK

Battle: Los Angeles (2011)

Your standard end-of-the-world movie focuses on scientists with the know-how to stop armageddon and government bigwigs with the power to initiate the human race's Plan B. There are always some "normal" folks and military guys in the mix, but they mostly add comic or down-home flavoring and give the audience a personal reference point. The latest alien-invasion flick, Battle: Los Angeles, is notable for maintaining the point of view of the grunt soldier who faces the threat without understanding what is going on. He's ordered to move and he moves. He continues moving until killed or ordered to stop. His goals are to destroy anything nonhuman, protect innocent civilians, and not look like a pussy in front of his comrades. He spouts absurd macho phraseology and appears to believe every word. And he might just be the savior of mankind.

POV aside, Battle: Los Angeles doesn't contain a single iota of original content. The characters are nondescript Hollywood GIs with paper-thin backstories (a pregnant wife, a desire to lose one's virginity, etc.). At least, in the interest of realism, they're not all white, which makes for a more ethnically diverse cast than your average film. The central character, played by Aaron Eckhart with commendable natural gravity, is also a cliché: a fallen leader on the eve of retirement who is haunted by memories of men he left behind. Their enemy is an organized legion of extraterrestrials who drop in on Earth's major cities one day with the apparent intent of seizing the water resources and wiping out the natives. These nasties may be technologically superior but, like all good sci-fi invaders, they have an Achilles heel, which in this case is so sizable it doesn't take an Ivy League geek to spot it.

You need to enjoy apocalypses as I do to appreciate the gritty charms of Battle: Los Angeles (although it would be better if your stomach, unlike mine, wasn't tempted to hurl its contents because of the jiggling camera action). This is a straight-up rehash of a dozen other movies without the advantage of big-budget special effects. It's loud, messy, predictable, and sappy, and it probably gives a better picture of what might happen on the ground after the arrival of angry ETs than more polished examples of its genre.

Copyright © 2011 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.