Ooh-Rah Marines!

As the world’s great cities fall, there remains one place that becomes the last stand for mankind in a battle no one expected

Battle: Los Angeles

We have all seen trailers and TV teasers that had made our mouths water in expectance of a great film - Skyline is one such film...and we all know how that turned out.

However, rarely does a film of this genre (Sci-Fi, Action, Thriller) live up to the hype of the trailers and 'pre-release' media. I can, however, safely say that Battle: Los Angeles, delivers and delivers very, very well. 

Now, I mentioned Skyline and Skyline this is NOT...

Battle: Los Angeles is set in present day (2011) and is a cross between ‘Cloverfield’ (hand-held camera) and ‘Independence Day’ (aliens landing on earth) with a realistic ‘Black Hawk Down’ twist.

It stars Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight, Rabbit Hole) as Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz who, having lost his platoon on a previous engagement in Iraq, files paperwork to leave the USMC. His plans are somewhat ‘put on hold’ when a call comes into the military explaining that meteors are landing all around the globe - these meteors actually turn out to be aliens.

The aliens want to eradicate the human colony for the resources of water as there is no liquid anywhere else in the solar system – clearly they did not hear about the discovery of water on Jupiter! They need the water to power their ships and mechanical bodies and Earth fits the bill on this front.

Nantz becomes part of a new platoon who includes second lieutenant William Martinez (Ramon Rodrigeuz), Cpl. Jason Lockett (Cory Hardict), Cpl. Nick Stavrou (Gino Anthony Pesci), Cpl. Kevin Harris (Ne-Yo surprisingly, whom I didn't recognise until my girlfriend kindly pointed him out to me!) and TSgt Elena Santos (Michelle Rodriguez - Fast and Furious franchise).

 Their mission is simple: Rescue any civilians in and around Santa Monica police station and escort them to the ‘Safe Zone’. 

That in a nutshell is the story, however, as you could probably tell, that mission quickly evolves into much more but I won’t ruin the story for you. All I will say is – prepare yourselves for a rollercoaster of a movie.

Now, I have read many reviews both independent and professional and a few of them criticise the storyline or lack thereof and also lack of character development. My personal opinion – this was done on purpose, firstly, war, whether it be human V human or human V ET, is fast paced, unrehearsed, confusing and downright un-followable until some historian 5-10 years from now writes about it from the safety of his own leather clad study. This film, I feel is rather realistic (and I mean that in the loosest sense), it is more like ‘Black Hawk Down’ meets ‘Aliens’ - the weaponry and setting and personnel  are all very detailed BUT the storyline and character development isn’t there to the extent of other films because you are thrown right into the deep end with the marines – there is literally no time for ‘nicey nicey’ thoughts about home or back story on each marine – this is War; roll with it.

 Now, with the ‘negatives’ if you see them that like that out the way, there are many positives about this film. The action was exciting and well choreographed, the actors actually trained with the US Marines based outside of L.A (the best action sequence being on a freeway whilst the platoon try to save the civilians), there was enough suspense and tension throughout added by the great music and general pace of the film, the special effects of the aliens and their ships was impressive, the acting was surprisingly good even with the apparent “awful script” critics are moaning about.

Aaron Erckart plays a very convincing Marine Staff Sergeant with Michelle Rodriguez and Cory Hardict delivering solid supporting performances along the way. The biggest strength I would say though is that it was shot and edited very well. The hand-held camera added to the authenticity of the situation and like so many films, the ‘shaky camera’ work wasn’t over the top, though there were a few scenes where it was hard to make sense of what was happening, but again, this adds to the film in my opinion.

Not everyone will like this film; those expecting anything more than what I have portrayed above will indeed be disappointed, but hell, what do you except from a SCI-FI action film? It will NEVER be the next ‘Schindler's list’ and even the hand-held camera as pointed out by certain reviewers will irritate some people (probably the same people who moaned about the camera work in ‘The Green Zone’.

Battle: Los Angeles wasn't perfect (but what film is?) with a story we've all seen so many times before, however, if you’re looking for good action, special effects and solid acting, it does very much deliver.

For me I would normally have given this film type a five or six out of ten, but the acting and camera-work and ‘realistic’ feeling was a bonus to this genre and enough to give this a solid 8 out of 10. Also there were more positives for this movie than negatives, which worked in the film's favour.

Very enjoyable science fiction / action adventure that delivers solidly on all areas. A great effort.