Battle: Los Angelas

I saw Battle: Los Angeles this weekend and I thought it was great. I know some might say it lacked plot, but that was the best part. The story line was simple and to the point. Aliens attack America, American Marines fight back and kick their butts.

All other invader movies make the military seem useless to stop them. Instead some regular citizen (usually the nerdy weakling scientist) has the plan to defeat the aliens. The only problem is the nerd can't convince the head strong military leaders that his plan will work. The nerdy scientist somehow get's behind the scenes convinces some low ranking military guy that his plan will work. The nerd saves the day, the low ranking military guy looks smart for refusing to listen to orders and military leadership gets egg on it's face.

Not this movie. Battle: Los Angeles gets you involved in the ordinary lives of the Marines you will follow into battle. Some have seen some really bad action in Iraq and other places around the world. When they arrive on the scene of the alien invasion you can see in their faces this is worst than any war they have ever been involved in.

If I have one gripe about the movie (and this is a really small one) I would have liked to see more of the aliens coming ashore and taking out the city. Instead the director makes us wait awhile before we actually see an alien. I'm sure this was intentional and keeps you impatiently waiting for that very moment.

I liked how the aliens didn't have laser weapons or force fields. They seemed to use similar ballistic weapons as here on Earth and they are terrible shots. My guess is that adjusting to the gravity of a new planet had something to do with that. Now the design of the aliens isn't all that interesting, especially when compared to the aliens in District 9. These dudes look like jelly fish with metal stuck all over them. This movie is just like Black Hawk down only the enemies are aliens and the setting is LA.

Battle: Los Angeles really worked for me. They kept it serious and stayed away from the corny jokes, one liners or campy interaction with the aliens. Also they didn't try to wedge in some moral issue or drive home some point. It's real simple a Marine never quits and aliens better not try to come here and take our water.