There’s something we can appreciate about big exploding, reckless action scenes like the ones in BATTLE: LOS ANGELES, on DVD/Blu-Ray combo pack today. When they’re technically well done to the point that we actually understand what’s going on, a little part of us smiles inside. We’re considerably sick of the 2012, TRANSFORMERS-style mish mash of random exploding things on a giant screen, causing us to become dizzy and potentially ill.
That being said, stunning visuals mean nothing if the story isn’t there. Besides the fact that we’re a sucker for alien stories, the character development was sorely neglected in BATTLE: LA. Rule of thumb, director Jonathan Liebesman: if you have a character that’s so basic and one dimensional that he can be easily played by Ne-Yo, it’s time to go back to the drawing board.
A good story can save bad visual effects, but great visuals can’t save a bad story. Basically all the characters just served as building blocks around the invasions and battles that took up the other 99 minutes of the film. But, again, we have a soft spot for alien invasions, so we’ll give it half of one thumb up…no more, no less. (Maybe less).
Props to Aaron Eckhart for doing what he could with the role of Sergeant Michael Nantz and to the visual effects artists for making it watch-able. Beyond that, the only other props go to us for sitting through it. – 2/5