Battle LA

Battle:Los Angeles 12(A) 116 minutes 2011

Watching Battle for LA is like playing a computer game only without the controls. You can't turn the sound down or slow down the speed; you can't stop it or even press pause. You simply have to go with the flow whether you like it or not and frankly, there is not much to like; a tenuous plot, a tortuous dialogue and trivial characterisation.

The storyline - aliens colonising earth in search of its water - is barely credible but what really undermines the plot is the speed with which these initially invincible invaders assume the frailties of humanoids - a weakness, it must be said, common to all disaster movies (War of the Worlds and Independence Day to name but two).Chaos then ensues as city after city is systematically obliterated by a combination of their technically superior air and land forces. Nothing can, seemingly, stop their relentless advance.

Cue the Los Angeles branch of the US Marine Corps somewhat worryingly led by a washed-up and battle-weary Staff Sergeant, Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart, fresh from his portrayal of a grief stricken parent in Rabbit Hole). With the aliens on the verge of world domination, Nantz is bewilderingly tasked with rescuing a small group of civilians inadvertently caught up behind alien lines. However, one mission is not enough for a US marine; against all odds (literally in this case), Nantz and his small patrol stumble over the aliens’ command and control centre. Poetic licence is stretched to the limit when Nantz calls in for a missile attack from a military base that had been inexplicably but conveniently, overlooked by the aliens in their initial assault.

The dialogue is sufficiently bad to lead us to question whether the world is, in fact, worth saving. "Retreat? Hell, no!" is bad enough but "your father was the bravest man I ever knew" about a man he literally just met is frankly too much to bear. Eckhart is competent in a limited role, ably assisted by Michelle Rodrigues as Intelligence Sergeant, Elena Santos but characterisation is deeply submerged in an orgy of action most of which consists of continuous, large calibre gunfire - although even Eckhart's handgun is successfully used towards the end so weak have the aliens apparently become. Explosions, narrow escapes and endless death and destruction complete the picture such that by the end, my eardrums were literally aching and my senses all overwhelmed. However, my 16 year old son, a self-confessed games expert, reckoned it was "pretty good".

Verdict
Director Jonathan Liebesman is in charge of the chaos but frankly, it lacks originality and depth. Horses for courses; great for computer gamers, dreadful for the rest. 2/10

Dick Morgan
March 2011