Movie Review: World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles

A good trailer and promising lead hypes up this movie but the predictability and clichés do little to sustain it. Photo / Supplied

Battle Los Angeles drags out every war and alien invasion movie cliche it can in two hours of noise and action, and very little else.

This film is as subtle and simple as its title. There's just enough time at the top to meet our hero Sgt Michael Nantz (Eckhart), a marine with 20 years experience who has decided it's time to retire, before aliens disguised as meteors start crashing into the ocean off Santa Monica beach.

And no, these robot-looking aliens don't come in peace - we learn from TV news reports that it's a war of the worlds and their well-planned attack is an attempt to colonise Earth for its water.

For Nantz this means he's back in action, alongside a young platoon of marines he's been training. Their mission is to retrieve a group of civilians stuck behind enemy lines and move them to a safe zone; and that's about as complicated as the story gets. Not that it matters, it's clear from the beginning Battle Los Angeles is driven by its call to action rather than any real sense of plot or character.

The camera work is of the jerky, hand-held style and gets us right inside the action and chaos. Unfortunately this means, much like the young group of grunts, we're left disoriented and unsure of what's going on. As the platoon weaves its way around suburban LA there's so much smoke they may as well be going around the same block over and over - and they probably are.

The squad delivers motivational video style dialogue with plenty of cliched fighting talk about never giving up, loyalty, service and sacrifice. As it takes the place of any real conversation or relationships we never get to know them, and consequently are mostly unmoved as they are taken down one by one.

Battle Los Angeles does understand its own limitations and feels like it's been created under the mantra Keep It Simple Stupid. While this makes it derivative and predictable, it does at least also make an effort to keep the energy levels high. Sci-fi fans may be left aghast, but those who like action for action's sake will likely find something to enjoy.

LOWDOWN

Stars: 2/5
Verdict: Sci-fi fans will be disappointed, but action fans will be entertained
Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Bridget Moynahan, Michelle Rodriguez
Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Running time: 116 mins
Rating: M (violence and offensive language)

- TimeOut