War is hell, shaky cams are confusing and disorientating and clichés are everywhere, just some of the things learnt by Battle: Los Angeles. Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart; The Dark Knight, Thank You For Smoking) is days from retirement when Los Angeles' latest crisis puts him on 'just one more mission' (cliché number 1) .
On top of that a corporal (who will no doubt end up in Sergeant Nantz's team) is seen at the grave of his brother who died in a previous mission (cliché number 2). As soon as the aliens attack all hell breaks lose (cliché, but my cliché) and the team are sent out to battle whatever it is that's destroying Los Angeles.
The advertising for this movie was pitched as Black Hawk Down meets Independence Day, unfortunately it isn't as good as either. If it was meant to be a serious army movie about the US's best line of defence then there really shouldn't have been so many clichés. However on the other hand if they wanted to go to the cheesy alien invasion movie that hits every button as expected then there should have been more fun with it, like Independence Day. Unfortunately, Battle: Los Angeles' mixture of the two doesn't do either genre any favours.
The movie purely focuses on the team with the occasional inclusion of people they meet along the way (civilians, including a couple of traumatised kids and another platoon of soldiers, including 'gasp in amazement' a woman!). From then on the clichés ramp up thick and fast. There are many things I could say in this review that could illustrate the kinds of clichés that appear in this film (and probably spoil the movie for you) but if you think about any war/alien invasion movies and what's involved then you're probably half right.
The 'battle' never ceases during the movie, it's as if the writer and director wanted to involve as many different storylines as possible but couldn't be bothered to shoot different scenes in different locations.
Aaron Eckhart is convincing as the hard bitten Sergeant who is still grieving for the team he lost before and feels guilty for being the only survivor (yet another cliché). But it feels that Eckhart is the one that's the most convinced about the character as in the real world this kind of occurrence (alien involvement or not) seems implausible.
As the story progresses there are many surprises, or at least that's what the director and writer hoped. As they are joined by the civilians (including Michael Pêna) the clichés just get worse and with all the problems the Marine team encounter you're just left wondering why they didn't leave the civilians behind (least of all the whiny kids).
Michelle Rodriguez (Avatar, Fast and Furious) is the token 'woman in a man's world' (cliché number...I lost count) and any more glamorised movie would have taken this as an opportunity to add some sex appeal or love interest (however implausible). However this movie thinks it's Black Hawk Down so in the best shaky cam battle sequences, with all the army gear on, the audience can't tell the difference between Michelle Rodriguez or Aaron Eckhart.
Add to that the overly simplified plot coupled with the easily solved ending and the occasional, implausible near death experience and Battle: Los Angeles is nothing new or surprising and for such a hyped up movie a little originality would have gone a long way.
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