Get cash from your website. Sign up as affiliate

Friday, March 18, 2011

“Battle: Los Angeles: Review By Bawnian-Dexeus - MovieWeb”

“Battle: Los Angeles: Review By Bawnian-Dexeus - MovieWeb”


Battle: Los Angeles: Review By Bawnian-Dexeus - MovieWeb

Posted:

"The Marines are the worlds strongest military force on Earth, pitted against an enemy not of human origin."

Battle:Los Angeles is a 2011 military science fiction war film.

The film is directed by Jonathan Liebesman.

Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Michael Peña, Ne-Yo, David Pham, Ramon Rodriguez and Bridget Moynahan.

Full Cast List:

Aaron Eckhart as USMC Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz

Rus Blackwell as Lt. Col. K.N. Ritchie

Michelle Rodriguez as USAF Technical Sergeant Elena Santos

Will Rothhaar as USMC Corporal Lee Imlay

Bridget Moynahan as Michele Martinez

Jim Parrack as USMC Lance Corporal Peter Kerns

Adetokumboh M'Cormack as US Navy Corpsman "Doc" Jilbril Adukwu

Nzinga Blake as Harmonie Adukwu

Michael Peña as Joe Rincon

Lucas Till as USMC Corporal Scott Grayston

Shaffer "Ne-Yo" Smith, Jr. as USMC Corporal Kevin Harris

Gino Anthony Pesi as USMC Corporal Nick Stavrou

Taylor Handley as USMC Lance Corporal Corey Simmons

James Hiroyuki Liao as USMC Lance Corporal Steven Mottola

Joey King as Kirsten

Aisha Tyler as General Samara Jennings

David Pham as USMC Corporal Bruce Bolo

Tisha Campbell-Martin as Maleria Evens

Noel Fisher as USMC Private First Class Shaun Lenihan

Lena Clark as News Repoter Brittnie Welles

Ramón Rodríguez as USMC 2nd Lieutenant William Martinez

Neil Brown Jr. as USMC Lance Corporal Richard Guerrero

Cory Hardrict as USMC Corporal Jason Lockett

Jesica Draké as Karina Turner

Gregory Weber as USMC Pilot

This movie greatly separates itself from many alien invasion films like War of the Worlds or Independence Day. It focuses more on the soldiers fighting for not just their survival or their countries, but for the entire planet. It is also based on a military scuffle that occurred on the skies of Los Angeles in 1942, taken from CBS's broadcasting. Some speculate that it was just a blimp, others say it was a UFO sighting. This isn't your average sci-fi battle. This is a war, much like WWI, WWII, The Iraq War, Cold War, Civil War, and the list goes on. It is more like a "what if?"; if ever we were in this situation.

The film sets itself 24 hours before the action takes place, where a handful of Marines are preparing themselves for what appears to be a meteor shower, in order to safely help the population if affected or harmed. It is only minutes later that they are activated on a higher scale of military action that goes far beyond evacuations or standard protective protocols. Earth is being invaded by extraterrestrials for its water supply, our most precious and natural resource to be used for means of fuel. The trailers speak for the story of the film: "they come to colonize and wipe out the indigenous population".

Aaron Eckhart plays the role of a USMC Staff Sergeant. His character, Michael Nantz carries a heavy burden from his past experience in war. You can easily guess his military rank went down, assuming he was a lieutenant leading the band of men that got killed in the crossfire. 24 hours before the invasion he plans to discharge and finish any training left for the next generation of soldiers. Only hours before the supposed meteor shower is he and every available soldier called in. Having portrayed with great talent on Two Face (The Dark Knight), I didn't see he acting talents to be wasted in this film. he stayed in complete character all the way, driving himself with everything that takes place in the plot of the movie, physically and mentally.

I particularly liked Noer Fisher's and Ramón Rodriguez's character portrayals as well. Ramón plays a lieutenant that has very little field experience. He gives a good vibe to his character, displaying proper emotion for what a soldier of his rank and fresh stardom might face if finding himself in the line of fire, freezing up, unable to make a move or give a command. And Fisher's character is that of a new recruit or fresh face among the ranks. The only actor I know to this day that can give that fear and emotion in his character. I personally wouldn't know ho two feel or react if I were by myself against an enemy looking out to kill me. He's got my vote.

Michelle Rodriguez. The lovely BAMF that every man loves in action films. While I must admit that reading her name in the cast sheet was a solid for me, I didn't quite like her performance. Obviously it was a good idea to have a female role in the movie as well as a female military personnel. Wouldn't want to have a problem with viewers, I mean, it ain't an Expendables film. Now, back why I didn't like her in this: because she reminded too much of her character in S.W.A.T. for some reason. It may not back up my reasoning. however it felt like she jumped from a cop to a soldier. Still, she fills in the military suit quite nicely.

This may sound like rant, but Ne-Yo? Really? Are you serious? Why? Is the music industry not cutting it anymore? Are all music artist trying for acting now?

Diving into the invaders, you really can't just call them aliens. They displayed proper and high level tactical means in the the art of war and rules of engagement. Like the American military or the any country's, they have their orders, they have their mission. They fought like any other force, only with at least several decades of improved technological weaponry. There's was also a great line where if the enemy was just as nervous and scared as the humans were in the war. It make you wonder.

The film is directed by Jonathan Liebesman. Some believe that the film used too much of the shaky-camera and may have caused some headaches to the audience or a few critics if not all of them. Even so, his intentions were to film it as a doc*mentary style. He got his inspiration from watching online videos of Marines fighting in the middle east. Personally, I loved it, and I don't dizzy easily. It gave a real, personal and genuine feel to it. Not everyone's cup of tea, but it was mine.

As for the visuals, thank GOD there was no use of 3D. it would have gone terribly wrong for the film and for the viewers. I adored their take on the space men and I found their physical design to be original and fresh. The special effects for the explosions, machines, and all the good stuff was top notch. Loved it. I will say that there is a scene where they try to figure out the enemy's anatomy, to find a weak point. Wasn't really necessary but, hey, wouldn't you want to know?

Brace yourself if you get dizzy easily. Overall, it was a great war film joined with the sci-fi genre. If there were to be a sequel, I wouldn't mind it at all. We might still crave for the aftermath.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured article: Comment Is Free But Freedom Is Slavery - An Exchange With The Guardian's Economics Editor.



image

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

0 comments:

Post a Comment