Battle: Los Angeles (Simpletons Review)

(Review Below)

Film : Battle: Los Angeles
Format: Cinema Standard Def
Run time (approx): 1 hr 56 Mins
My Rating (out of 10):  6.5
Rating for an action flick (out of 10): 9
Genre: Sci-Fi/Action

Film Highlight: Surround sound made me feel part of the battle.

** MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS **

Battle: Los Angeles , a simple film with a simple plot. A group of stereotypical marines (a retarded rookie, a big black guy with a scar, a hero staff Sergeant and an annoying Hispanic) are involved in a rescue mission to evacuate a bunch of civilians out of a police HQ when the world becomes invaded by an 'unknown force' from the skys.

I was so hyped about this film, followed the multiple trailers that were released, jacked off to the nice posters that were shown (to confirm that was a joke) and even made a Facebook fan page (also a joke). The cast Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent !), Michelle Rodriguez (Fast and the Furious), Ne-Yo (Yep... the mainstream R&B singer) and other previous 'war film castings' are OK but it was all just the typical war movie jokes and war movie shouts with war movie cliches. They didn't have much to work with to prove themselves as actors, Aaron Eckhart was by far the best performance, realistic emotion and believable anger.

This film is a mix between 'Black Hawk Down' , 'Independance Day' and 'Cloverfield', that's a swell thing right? Yeah if its as good as them all but unfortunately it isn't. Some elements from each film were used such as the 'shakey camera' from Cloverfield, the Alien invasion from 'Independance Day' and a similar type of rescue mission from 'Black Hawk Down'.

Like all Alien films I watch, I also always find the weaponry, design and technology of the invaders interesting. B LA had great ideas mixed with awful ideas, the huge shock wave cannons and incendiary type rounds were awesome. However their ships looked like something from a scarp yard (ghetto spaceships) and the audience find themselves watching Aaron Eckhart and a qualified vet (yes a vet...) discover the aliens weakness in a 20 minute (exaggeration) dissection, only to find they have a god damn heart like the rest of us (in the same position!). We find out why the aliens are invading earth ( for resources) but its hardly explained. The ending is also bad, but I'm not gonna spoil it for you but you could probably guess it before the film starts.

As an action flick/alien invasion film this is outstanding but your gonna have to take your brain out and put on those action goggles. Watching it in the cinema with surround sound was so intense and really made you feel part of the action, definitely recommend you go watch it at the cinema.

At the end of the day...
+ Great action/alien flick
+ An improvement from Skyline
+ Sound was used to perfection
+ Tense moments
+ Some good alien ideas
- Standard war cliches, lines and turn of events
- Bad ending
- Predictable