By Lili Samios and Dagney Palmer
LEESBURG, VA- Battle: Los Angeles starts off by introducing characters who will later be important in the film on a seemingly average day. The only foreshadowing for what’s to come is on the news in the background, which talks about a meteor shower that came out of nowhere and seems to be very mysterious.
When the meteors hit, it becomes quite clear they are nothing of the sort. First, people realize that these “meteors” are slowing down before they hit the ocean. Then, with little other warning, a full scale attack takes place on all major beaches in the world.
It becomes apparent that the earth is being attacked by aliens. The army is sent to vanquish these foes before they can cause more death and damage then they already have. Marine Staff Sergeant Nantz (Aaron Eckhart), who was about to retire, is reassigned to a new platoon. This platoon is what the movie follows. They are sent into Los Angeles to rescue citizens who are trapped in a police station before all of Los Angeles is bombed in order to rid it of its foreign invaders.
On the way the platoon first encounters the strange aliens. They, at first, seem impossible to kill and partly mechanic, though it is later proved that they do have weakness. The citizens at the police station are successfully rescued, but when it is time for the bombs to drop, nothing happens. The platoon eventually makes it back to their base, only to find it destroyed.
All hope seems lost. The protagonists are the only platoon left and everything is destroyed, but in movies such as these, you should never give up hope. This movie didn’t quite meet expectations. The previews were intense and interesting, but some amount of that was just promotion. However, that doesn’t mean this wasn’t a good movie.
The effects were good, and the acting was on par. If you are pro military and love war movies go see it in theaters. If you aren’t crazy about either, you should still rent it for its special effects, and while stereotypical, suspenseful plot. Overall, this movie was a fairly cliché story incorporating a pro-military slant as well as classic sequences of action and suspense.