Battle: Los Angeles

Aaron Eckhart, Ramon Rodriguez, Cory Hardrict, Ne-Yo

Directed by Jonathan Liebsman

Rating: 3 stars

Sgt. Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart) had his share of war time experience and just had his retirement approved only to be put back in the line of duty when the world is under attack by an unknown force. Los Angeles is one of the many cities under attacked by meteors that seem to slow down once they hit the earth's atmosphere. The platoon is being led by 2nd Lt. William Martinez (Ramon Rodriguez) which puts pressure on Nantz since most of the platoon is skeptical of their chance of survival since rumors have spread that the last mission Nantz was on, only he made it out alive. So when the platoon makes it to the police department to save some civilians, they find out that what they are dealing with are literally from out of this world. They must find a way to make it back to their base safely within a set time before a bomb goes off while destroying the aliens after them.

Battle: LA starts off interesting enough, however this movie drags on and on and on. Though it is only a few minutes short of being a two-hour movie, Battle: LA has so much content that it's not overwhelming, it just feels boring. You get tired of the action that keeps going-- or at some moments lack of action, that by the end of the movie you are washed with relief that it is over.

I think this movie deserves three stars because it was worth watching once. I wouldn't want to buy this movie but if you're looking for a good action movie to rent, I would recommend this one. What could have made this movie more successful would be if there was more suspense. Some scenes are suspenseful in the beginning to middle of the movie but then you get tired of it that you don't find yourself holding your breath, waiting to see what happens next. Another weak item in this movie was the aliens. They looked like metal contraptions. You do see the aliens but they are simply shiny, or rather dirty, pieces of metal. At one scene they break apart the alien trying to kill it but you don't see the typical alien accustomed to horror films. In fact, the lighting makes it hard to distinguish what it truly looks like.

Therefore, it is my opinion that Battle: Los Angeles was a film well-made, however, be warned that it is just a film that feels a tad too long.