It takes a lot for me to see something new when I go to the movies. I have seen more than my share of movies so I have seen damn near everything there is to see when it comes to characters, plots, twists and so on. Normally the previous sentences would lead into me writing that the movie I am about to review was something new and exciting. Not this time. “Battle: LA” crams every war movie cliché into its relative short run time. For some reason, I found it entertaining.
Aliens attack Earth. This movie takes place in Los Angeles. How’s that for a plot synopsis?
Let’s run through the clichés that “Battle: LA” provides.
The hero is about to retire but is pulled back in for one last mission.
He is also well known for a botched mission.
One of the soldiers is an expecting father.
One just lost his brother in the hero’s botched mission.
One is going to be married.
They just happen to come across a solider that is an expert in the very thing that they need to bring down the bad guys.
It has speeches about honor and duty.
It has civilians being told to be brave in the face of insurmountable odds.
It was so predictable that I was actually shocked that the hero did not give his life in the end to save his men.
I should have hated this movie. I did not love it, but I actually enjoyed it. It was mindless fun. Sometimes, that is all I need from a movie.
5 out of 10
Rated PG-13 for sustained and intense sequences of war violence and destruction, and for language.
116 min
