Battle: Los Angeles ««½
PG-13, 116m. 2011
Cast & Credits: Aaron Eckhart (Sg. Michael Nantz), Ramon Rodriguez (2nd Lt. William Martinez), Will Rothhaar (Cpl. Lee Imlay), Cory Hardrict (Cpl. Jason Lockett), Jim Parrack (LCpl. Peter Kerns), Gino Anthony Pesi (Cpl. Nick Stavrou), Ne-Yo (Cpl. Kevin Harris), James Hiroyuki Liao (LCpl. Steven Mottola), Noel Fisher (Pfc. Shaun Lenihan), Bridget Moynahan (Michele), Adetokumboh M’Cormack (Corpsman Jibril Adukwu), Bryce Cass (Hector Rincon), Joey King (Kirsten), Michelle Rodriguez (TSgt. Elena Santos). Screenplay by Christopher Berolini. Directed by Jonathan Liebesman.
"It's not a great movie, but it is a thriller ride, fairly realistic depiction of Marines, and very rough-even the camera movement is unsettling and not a carefully crafted Hollywood story... it's ANTI-AVATAR to the bone, and if it had subtitles it would say "F.U. James Cameron!”"
That was an email I received from a friend of mine Sunday night after he saw Battle: Los Angeles. Up until my reading that, I wasn’t sure after seeing all the negative reviews from film critics bashing the $100 million plus budgeted alien invasion movie if I should go to a before noon showing Monday, where the price of admission would be five bucks or go after noon and pay the $7.50. I choose the before noon showing but even after seeing Battle: Los Angeles I probably wouldn’t have been too upset if I had paid the additional 2.50.
The reason had to do with the following comments my friend said about the film in a brief second paragraph that gave me some hope I wouldn’t walk out demanding close to two and a half hours (when you count in the previews) of my life back.
“Marines are great heroes,” he wrote. “Americans are caring people, and aliens are not giant peace-loving Smurfs but rather a predatory species looking for natural resources...It's the kind of movie that makes you ask..."Shouldn't we have more arms for our troops?"
My friend is not a fan of Avatar (2009). Neither, for that matter, am I (refer to my Avatar review on this blog located under the “Close But No Cigar Movies if you are interested).
With the exception of Eckhart’s Nance, most of the characters lack so much depth that when some of the military servicemen go down in the line of fire, we don’t know them well enough to care while the jerky camera movements look as though half the film was shot using a hand held device like in The Blair Witch Project (1999). On the other hand I found the alien invaders reminded me of those towering Cylon robots from the updated Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009) television series. That is until the close-up shots of their actual bodies much of which consist of a lot of alien innards as Nance and his men attempt to dissect one of the species as a means to find out their weak spot.
“We are the last offensive force on the west coast,” says one military commander. “We cannot lose Los Angeles.”
There is no political grandstanding by any of the soldiers and would be no more different if this country came under attack by foreign invaders.
I don’t know what director Jonathn Liebesman and screenwriter Christopher Bertolini’s intentions were when they made Battle: Los Angeles but the film offers two things: American patriotism and respect for our nation’s military, something sorely lacking in a lot of today’s liberal America bashing movies.
©3/14/11
PG-13, 116m. 2011
Cast & Credits: Aaron Eckhart (Sg. Michael Nantz), Ramon Rodriguez (2nd Lt. William Martinez), Will Rothhaar (Cpl. Lee Imlay), Cory Hardrict (Cpl. Jason Lockett), Jim Parrack (LCpl. Peter Kerns), Gino Anthony Pesi (Cpl. Nick Stavrou), Ne-Yo (Cpl. Kevin Harris), James Hiroyuki Liao (LCpl. Steven Mottola), Noel Fisher (Pfc. Shaun Lenihan), Bridget Moynahan (Michele), Adetokumboh M’Cormack (Corpsman Jibril Adukwu), Bryce Cass (Hector Rincon), Joey King (Kirsten), Michelle Rodriguez (TSgt. Elena Santos). Screenplay by Christopher Berolini. Directed by Jonathan Liebesman.
That was an email I received from a friend of mine Sunday night after he saw Battle: Los Angeles. Up until my reading that, I wasn’t sure after seeing all the negative reviews from film critics bashing the $100 million plus budgeted alien invasion movie if I should go to a before noon showing Monday, where the price of admission would be five bucks or go after noon and pay the $7.50. I choose the before noon showing but even after seeing Battle: Los Angeles I probably wouldn’t have been too upset if I had paid the additional 2.50.
The reason had to do with the following comments my friend said about the film in a brief second paragraph that gave me some hope I wouldn’t walk out demanding close to two and a half hours (when you count in the previews) of my life back.
“Marines are great heroes,” he wrote. “Americans are caring people, and aliens are not giant peace-loving Smurfs but rather a predatory species looking for natural resources...It's the kind of movie that makes you ask..."Shouldn't we have more arms for our troops?"
My friend is not a fan of Avatar (2009). Neither, for that matter, am I (refer to my Avatar review on this blog located under the “Close But No Cigar Movies if you are interested).
Now that I have seen Battle: Los Angeles, which grossed $36 million opening weekend, I can verify his comment that it is “ANTI-AVATAR to the bone.” Unlike Avatar which I found to be nothing more than a liberal bashing “I hate America – America is evil – America is responsible for 9/11 – America plunders other countries, in this case planets, of precious resources - Marines are gun-toting mercenaries for hire” blockbuster, Battle: Los Angeles is the kind of pro-military/pro U.S.A movie John Wayne probably would have starred in just because it shows our nation’s armed forces performing the kinds of everyday heroics they continue to display on a daily basis overseas.At one point in the film, a Marine complements Staff Sgt. Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart) for his “John Wayne” heroics in taking out one of the alien ships. Then someone asks, “Who’s John Wayne?”
With the exception of Eckhart’s Nance, most of the characters lack so much depth that when some of the military servicemen go down in the line of fire, we don’t know them well enough to care while the jerky camera movements look as though half the film was shot using a hand held device like in The Blair Witch Project (1999). On the other hand I found the alien invaders reminded me of those towering Cylon robots from the updated Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009) television series. That is until the close-up shots of their actual bodies much of which consist of a lot of alien innards as Nance and his men attempt to dissect one of the species as a means to find out their weak spot.
Battle: Los Angeles is not going to receive any Oscar nominations but in my opinion it’s certainly not bad enough to receive any Razzies either. I don’t know if I can justify seeing it again months from now when it arrives on DVD and Blu-ray. I am not even sure I would ever have it on should I find it shown on a cable station one day just to have something to listen to. Still, I have been finding myself enjoying movies I didn’t like the first time lately. I am not ruling out the possibility of Battle: Los Angeles making that list.The film’s focus here, though, is not so much about the aliens plundering Mother Earth of our precious resources and wiping out civilization. It’s about our nation’s military marching in to do a job no one else has the guts to do. In Battle: Los Angeles, the United States Marines do it without question where military leaders give orders as though the “City of Angels” is the rallying battle cry for “Remember the Alamo!”
“We are the last offensive force on the west coast,” says one military commander. “We cannot lose Los Angeles.”
There is no political grandstanding by any of the soldiers and would be no more different if this country came under attack by foreign invaders.
I don’t know what director Jonathn Liebesman and screenwriter Christopher Bertolini’s intentions were when they made Battle: Los Angeles but the film offers two things: American patriotism and respect for our nation’s military, something sorely lacking in a lot of today’s liberal America bashing movies.
©3/14/11
No comments:
Post a Comment