Retreat? Hell!
I saw Battle: Los Angeles in the theater way back in 2011. A sleeper hit, the film debuted at number one amidst a bunch of films that just weren’t that great including Red Riding Hood and Mars Needs Moms. Panned by critics and dethroned in its second week by the animated Rango, Battle: LA quickly got lost in the shuffle of alien invasion films and was written off as just another loud, noisy mess.
I beg to differ.
While it’s definitely not a great film and suffers from having a few plot holes and inconsistencies in time, it does a solid job of giving us a war movie with aliens as the antagonist. It takes itself seriously and actually makes you care about the characters, even if most of them are gone by the end of the film.
The film’s plot is pretty basic and has been visited before in both military and science fiction films. There’s an invasion (this time it’s aliens) by an unknown enemy that catches the world off guard. The enemy begins its invasion in major seaside cities. With evacuations complete, Marines are sent in to retrieve any known remaining citizens and bring them back to safety. Marines from Echo Company, 2/5 are sent in to retrieve an unknown amount of civilians from a police station located in West Los Angeles before the US Air Force bombs the area. They are given three hours to complete their mission.
The film becomes an urban warfare/extraction film once the Marines begin their mission. Prior to this, we are given brief characterizations of the members of the platoon. Without spoiling too much, I’ll say that most of these Marines do not survive the film, and in some cases, the time spent developing the characters takes longer than their actual survival time during the extraction.
As the film chugs along, it gives us glimpses at how a real life situation involving aliens (or any other enemy) might take place. The Marines battle personal demons, worry about family and friends, struggle with PTSD, doubt themselves and others, and become wary of the capabilities of themselves and others in their platoon. You don’t see these types of problems dealt with in most science fiction films. Sure, you’ll have an occasional character in a movie with an issue that eventually becomes the reason that they become a hero, but it’s always delivered in a heavy handed fashion. In Battle: LA, these Marines attempt to work around their issues, with some failing and others coming out scarred even more.
It’s this gritty realism woven together with a chaotic camera style that makes the film a wild and emotional ride. Sacrifices are made for the betterment of the group as a whole and losses are noted and then filed away until after the Marines get to safety. Friends and brothers are mourned but the survivors continue to help one another keep it together as mentally and emotionally as possible in the situation.
What I find amazing about the critical reviews of this film is that most of them hammer the movie for being loud, confusing, and over the top. They criticize the camera work while complimenting and praising the exact same style of shooting fight scenes in films such as Gladiator and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. They compare it to Independence Day which is, at least in my opinion, as glossy and vanilla as you can get with an alien invasion story. Did I enjoy that film? Yep, but I prefer the realism found in Battle: LA.
Critics also take shots at the cast, in particular Aaron Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez, stating that both of them are too good to be in a film such as this one. I actually appreciate the fact that both of these actors are in this movie, as their performances definitely bring the film up a few notches. Both them and the rest of the cast took their roles seriously and this makes the film that much better.
For those with sharp eyes, you’ll notice that this cast is pretty loaded with both established actors (Eckhart, Rodriguez, Michael Pena, and Bridget Moynahan) and a number of other actors who would soon go on to bigger and better things. Lucas Till would go on to star as Havok in the most recent series of X-Men films and eventually land the starring role in the remake of MacGyver. Ne-Yo was already an established R&B/hip hop artist prior to being in this film and continues to be successful as both an actor and musician. Noel Fisher has established himself as a reliable character and voice actor, having appeared as Michelangelo in the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films, Vladimir in The Twilight Saga – Breaking Dawn Part 2, Mickey on Shameless, and numerous other roles. Joey King, who portrays one of the civilian children in the film, has starred in numerous film and television productions including Ramona and Beezus, The Conjuring, and The Kissing Booth. Many other members of the cast have continued to have solid careers in supporting roles in film and television.
Look, I understand that this film has plenty of things going against it. The three hour window in the film seemed to be stuck at times and in one particular sequence we go from afternoon to late night to mid morning in a relatively short amount of time. There are definitely flaws with this film, but nothing that I can find that any other, better reviewed film doesn’t have as well. For whatever reason, critics hated this movie. It’s also pretty low with general audiences as well, and I just don’t understand why.
If you haven’t seen Battle: Los Angeles yet, it’s currently available to stream on Netflix. I rewatched it the other night and had forgotten just how solid it really is as both a military story and a science fiction yarn. Check it out and, as always, thanks for reading my post.
Ken's Alternate Universe! 