Battle Los Angeles

This is the second of what I called the Calm Campbell Double Feature. While The Lovely Steph Leann got some much sleep, I took Campbell and held him while he slept. And while he was sleeping, I was watching movies. The first was "Rubber", the second was this glorified war movie that replaced Russkies or Germans with alien beings, that being "Battle Los Angeles".

It tells the story of Sgt. Michael Nantz (a growly, grizzly Aaron Eckhart) who has a past (they always have something that went wrong) and has submitted his retirement, yet is pulled back in when a large legion of aliens storm Earth's atmosphere, ID4 style.

Nantz finds himself helping a platoon of soldiers, led by a guy fresh out of boot camp, as they weave their way through Los Angeles in a desperate attempt to find a weakness to the oncoming swarth of sentient beings.  There are lots of explosions, several deaths of characters you've been introduced to, and we meet the token citizens that the troops are expected to rescue.

Michelle Bridget Moynahan (sorry, I can't keep up with the Moynahans) pops up as a vet (of animals, not of wars) and Michelle Rodriguez does her usual tough chick schtick, this time as a special ops soldier who has a plan to get rid of the enemy.

Of course, we find out the secret that Nantz is hiding, and how one of the soldiers in the squad resents Nantz for that mistake long ago, which is a misunderstanding, of course.

Anyway, the movie is just eh. Its a war film with aliens, really, and nothing more.  The story is predictable, the characters are mostly uninteresting and the whole movie is drab and grainy.  The battle scenes, however, are glorious and the effects are spectacular, and I like how they portray the aliens as simply an invading force to be defeated.

If you want to see alien battles, though, skip this and go straight to Independence Day.  Its funnier, its more lively and Will Smith is a far better lead than Aaron Eckhart, at least in this type film.

However, R&B superstar Ne-Yo does play a decent role in this movie, so if you love you some Ne-Yo like I know you do, then by all means, partake.