Johnthan Liebesman’s “Battle: Los Angeles” contains nearly every alien invasion cliché you’ve seen in films in the last 30 years. Every one. So why is this consistently acerbic Film Warrior giving it a four rating?
Because as of right now it’s easily the best film of the year.
Director Liebesman (“Darkness Falls”) and screenwriter Christopher Bertolini (“The General’s Daughter”) managed to take these well worn clichés and wrap them up in a cinematic package that’s genuinely thrilling from the first frame to the last.
This is the type of blockbuster film Hollywood used to crank out on a regular basis but stopped making in favor of product placement and ‘franchise branding,’ whatever the hell that means.
Versatile leading man Aaron Eckhart stars as the staff sergeant for a platoon of Marines assigned to rescue civilians in Santa Monica when an alien invasion hits the west coast and cities all over the world.
Seems these unattractive infiltrators are here for our natural resources (specifically our water supply, ala television’s miniseries “V”), and it’s up to our gritty little group of soldiers (including Michelle Rodriguez and Ne-Yo) to find a chink in their armor before the entire Los Angeles basin falls.
Awash in shades of “Black Hawk Down,” “Saving Private Ryan,” and “ID4,” the film starts strong and almost never lets up the tension throughout the 116 minute running time. This is white knuckle filmmaking at its best, featuring several exhaustingly tense action sequences that nearly make you forget to breathe once they’re over.
This includes a chaotic standoff on a freeway where children’s lives literally hang in the balance (what action film would be complete without some form of child endangerment?) and the film’s climatic struggle, which actually qualifies as a properly shot third act climax instead of the usual subpar action letdown we’ve seen in so many other films.
If you’re not cheering at some point during this film, you might want to check your pulse.
Eckhart’s performance shines once again, this time as a guilt ridden soldier who must find a way to keep himself, his men, and a small group of civilians alive long enough to reach safety before the Air Force wipes out the extraterrestrial infestation with a strategically placed air strike. He exudes both the confidence and emotional vulnerability this type of role requires, instead of the typical tough guy persona route other actors would have taken.
He’s backed up by a well sketched supporting cast you actually come to care about the more dangerous the journey becomes. After her turn in “Avatar” I’d had my fill of Michelle Rodriguez in either military or law enforcement ‘tough girl’ roles, but here she’s a welcome presence onscreen amongst the all male platoon, rounding out the cast with some well placed dialog and a few great action beats.
“Battle: Los Angeles” also features some of the best visual effects I’ve seen in years, adding to the tension and realistic nature of the piece instead of distracting from it. Yes, an alien invasion may seem remote and somewhat goofy to most, but a war is still a war.
These creatures bleed like us, and there are casualties on both sides of the coin. Liebesman and company drop you dead center in the middle of the chaos for an all too close view of combat from the front lines.
If anything, “Battle: Los Angeles” will give you a newfound appreciation for our nation’s military and the dangerous job they do in the name of freedom. It’s an exhausting, exhilarating, and thoroughly satisfying quest item that reinforces the reason we go to movies in the first place:
To be entertained. Job well done. Hoorah!
“Deeds, not words…”
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