World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles [2011]

I have a love/hate relationship with apocalyptic fare such as World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles.  Love because I thoroughly enjoy watching the world being violently blown to pieces (in film, anyway). And hate because, like the terrible 2012 and the disappointing War of the Worlds, these flicks always miss the mark. This is not the exception: Battle Los Angeles is plotless, video-gamey, needlessly dizzying and, for an action movie, not particularly exciting. Besides, it’s far too long. Of course, this is not the material that could elicit fine acting, but the performances, especially the one by Ramón Rodriguez, are terrible. Aaron Eckhart replays “Harvey Dent”, now as a cranky Marine.  Adding insult to injury, this movie keeps cruelly teasing you with apparent endings, only to continue with its never-ending orgy of bullets. Why do I keep watching films like this?

 

As a bonus, I want to share with you a quote by Simon Miraudo I found extremely funny: “Michael Bay and Tony Scott made love to the American flag, birthed a demon spawn and called it Battle Los Angeles.”