Battle: Los Angeles (or Battle Los Angeles) is the alien invasion movie that could only have come about in the era when first-person shooter military games have reached a new level of realism and popularity. The film turns the cement jungle of LA into a battlefield with mechanically-enhanced aliens storming the city by land, sea and air against a human populace that just stares in awe until things start blowing up. Once the action does start, it trips over social clichés, two-dimensional soldier characters, and an inexplicable jump to a beyond hopeless space despite the answer being so painfully obvious within the first ten minutes of the film. The plothole is never so obnoxious as “the aliens are allergic to air” or “they have a weakness to water”, it’s more tactical than that, but it’s still so glaringly out in the open that the film’s struggle seems like a waste as a result.
Sgt. Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart), an officer notorious for being the only surviving member of the troops he led into battle, sits on the edge of retirement. He’s making the rounds, saying good-byes and making his exit the day the aliens attack. Streaming to Earth looking like meteorites, the aliens land in the ocean and storm onto shore laying waste to the civilians and news crews watching their descent. Before the military can mount a respectable defense, Los Angeles is on the verge of being lost with retreat orders on the Pentagon’s lips. Nantz and a collection of soldiers (Ramon Rodriguez, Cory Hardrict, Ne-Yo, Michelle Rodriguez, Noel Fisher) and a handful of civilians (Bridget Moynahan, Michael Pena) fight their way through LA, seemingly the last hope the city has, making a final stand for the human species in the alleyways of the city. After rescuing a few civilians, they stumble across the tactical “Eureka!” moment they need and humanity proves its mettle in the face of extra-terrestrial domination once again.
Early on, Battle: Los Angeles makes an effort to give the soldiers unique personalities but they never become anything more than barely fleshed out faces waiting to die at the hands of the invaders. The closest they come to being more than just targets is in a throwaway sidestory about how one of the troops’ brothers was in Nantz’s unit that was destroyed and the melodramatic revelation of what really happened that lets the squad fall together and finally work as a team.
As with every film that has a large casualty count, Battle: Los Angeles suffers from “celebrity syndrome”, namely the famous people in the cast live and the no-names die off (mostly). It’s a common problem and it saps a movie like this of the suspense it needs to keep the adrenaline running on full, but it just can’t do it. It doesn’t really help that the film jumps to a point where the supporting military is too decimated to help, yet we never see it happen because we’re following this very limited narrative perspective of this ragtag group. Nor does the film benefit from that always miraculous aspect of their remnant force being the only one to survive and then being the only ones to make the far too obvious connection as to how the alien ships are operating. For a film that’s presenting a very pro-enlistment view of the military, the strategic decision-makers up on high look like utter morons for not figuring all of this out.
Instead, it has to rely on strong special effects both in the alien technology and its pyrotechnic departments. To its credit, Battle: Los Angeles has well-constructed CGI and the film looks quite good despite all its shortcomings in characterization and storytelling. Sony did a superb job of handling its HD presentation and consequently it is one of the better-looking 2D Blu-rays on the market right now. The clarity of the picture makes it seem almost 3D at times, even if the plot and people filling the frame are anything but.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
There is a slew of production featurettes including pieces on the filming of battle sequences, the conception of the aliens and their fighting style, set design, preparing the actors for their roles as soldiers, and Director Jonathan Liebesman’s methods of directing the frantic battle sequences. The crowning jewel of the featurettes is a look at the filming of the freeway battle scene which had some of the bigger explosions and cooler, up-close artillery. Finally, you have the option to view the movie in a more interactive fashion with a pop-up interface that offers insights into the filming of certain scenes, concept art and storyboard comparisons, and picture-in-picture commentary at key moments. It’s something akin to a pop-up trivia track mixed with the advanced video commentaries that are becoming more common in Blu-ray releases.
"Battle: Los Angeles" is on sale June 14, 2011 and is rated PG13. Action, Sci-Fi, War. Directed by Jonathan Liebesman. Written by Chris Bertolini. Starring Aaron Eckhart, Bridget Moynahan, Michael Pena, Michelle Rodriguez, Ne Yo, Ramon Rodriguez.
