Battle: LA was actually a pretty good movie. I can’t recommend it for the younger crowd, but if you are into action movies like Blackhawk Down or Independence Day than this is the flick for you! Why? Because it was almost exactly like those two movies.
Well, just like those two movies with the visual elements of Cloverfield, and machine/alien inspiration from War of the Worlds thrown in.
Summary
Essentially the story follows a group of marines who are deployed to L.A. to fight an unknown alien enemy that is enjoying the California beaches. Lots of people die and lots of buildings get blown up, you know, typical war movie stuff.
The marines, who are led by ex-sou chef Aaron Eckhart, 
are tasked with evacuating some civilians from an overrun police station before the west half of LA is carpet-bombed into oblivion. They manage to save 5 of them and hightail it back to a safe area, only to discover that the “safe area” was already attacked/destroyed and there is no more carpet-bombing. This was probably one of the more predictable parts of the movie. You know how in movies when something, like a counter attack, is about to happen, they actually show the incoming attack? Yeah, they don’t this time, so you pretty much guess correctly that nothing will happen (That, and at this point only 45 minutes have passed in the movie).
At the end there are 5 marines left (Wont tell who, but one of them is female and latino) and they decide to fight back against the invaders by taking out a central command hub that the aliens had established, very much like Independence Day. The rest you need to see for yourself.
SPOILER ALERT!
America wins!
Refutation
As with most war movies, the people who get killed off are pretty predictable, but it doesn’t stop you from hoping that they get back to their families ok.
I have heard a lot of people complain about the “handi-cam” style that the movie was shot in. I agree and disagree with this. The first 30 minutes of the movie when there is no action, just back story, it is completely annoying and unnecessary. When the fighting starts you can’t even notice it because ever since Saving Private Ryan, war films are almost exclusively shot in this style, so it wasn’t a big deal.
Another complaint I have heard was that there wasn’t any back story with the aliens. So? Who needs it? 
It wouldn’t have helped the movie at all because the Humans figure out pretty fast what they are here for. It’s not like we have to hear about Admiral Akbar and his rough and tumble alien gang in order to relate to them in any way.
While I saw nothing unique about the storyline (Independence Day meets Blackhawk Down), but the one-on-one fighting between alien and human forces in an Earth city was something relatively new. Usually in movies with Alien invasions you only see it from the perspective of the civilians running away and not the military (War of the Worlds).
There are some MAJOR incongruities in the film, both in action and in facts. The facts are more militaristic and wouldn’t be picked up on by someone who doesn’t know the difference between an M26 grenade and an M48 (i.e. Everyone not in the military). The action is a lot more noticeable, the largest being that the group crosses 5 kilometers, underground, in about 5 minutes of running. The five minutes then translates back to at least 5 hours, having started at about midnight, they suddenly surface at about mid-day. This completely threw me. The only reason I didn’t care was that I understood they did it for times-sake. But darn it people, you could have at least put a caption that said “5 kil and 7 hours later…”
Criticisms
My biggest complaint about the movies is Michelle Rodriguez, which may seem kind of odd because she is a cutey.
Trust me, looks weren’t the issue. My problem is that she is in almost every action movie ever. I swear on my life that before I even saw the movie I thought to myself, “That looks pretty cool, at least that chick from S.W.A.T. isn’t in it!” I was wrong. M-Rod has been in action movies ranging from Fast and the Furious, Avatar, Machete and Resident Evil. It has gotten to the point that she is almost a cliche of action genre. You can pretty much guarantee that when the director decides he needs a latin-female presence with street cred and a vocabulary full of action star slang that hasn’t changed since the 90’s, Michelle Rodriguez is first on speed-dial.
Something else I couldn’t get over was that at the beginning of the movie when they are supposed to be moving stealthily through LA streets, they are busy shouting their heads off as if they were already trying to out-shout the sound of the guns. Something like this…
“HEY, LENIHAN! YOU SEE ANYTHING? MARCO.”
“NO! BUT I’M SURE IT DOESN’T MATTER BECAUSE I DIE IN THE NEXT SCENE. POLO!”
“WELL SAID, I WONDER WHY ALIENS PICKED THIS PLANET TO ATTACK. MARCO.”
“WHO KNOWS, WE PROBABLY GRABBED THEIR ATTENTION WITH ALL THIS UNNECESSARY SHOUTING DURING ONE OF THE LEAST ACTION-PACKED PARTS OF THE MOVIE. POLO.”
Its no real surprise that they get ambushed.
Wrapping it up
The movie has a lot of fighting in it (surprise), but the story does lend itself to the heart-touching moments that help you to see the human side of humanity.
I also thought the CGI in this movie was incredible. I’m usually not a huge fan of overdoing CGI (Avatar), but in order to completely demolish a city currently in use it was necessary. It also helped make the more appealing because they didn’t look like dolls (Aliens) or like a buff dude in a suit (Predators).
I give this movie a 6/10. It didn’t catch my attention with much originality, but it certainly kept my testosterone and adrenalin going for a solid 2+ hours.
What did you think?
The Logical Syllogism 