If you watched the trailer for World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles you probably reacted in one of two ways: You chuckled or you stared in disbelief. For once, a movie lives up to its hype or lack thereof.
The world is under attack. What initially seems to be a meteor shower soon takes shape as an alien invasion and don’t you know it, it’s up to the folks Stateside to save us all. Led by Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart) and 2nd Lieutenant William Martinez (Ramón Rodríguez), a platoon of Marines with one-line back-stories is deployed to rescue civilians trapped behind enemy lines.
Alright, anyone who goes to see a movie called World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles anticipating depth presumably suffers from a glandular dysfunction which boosts optimism, but even with expectations set as low as they will go, Battle LA still disappoints. It is possible for a flick to treat things like “plot” and “character development” as minor inconveniences, but where Tron: Legacy and Transformers swapped substance for audio-visual sensation, Battle LA provides explosions, an alien autopsy and elements from every extraterrestrial invasion or doomsday movie ever made.
Stuck in a world where TVs are everywhere—tuned in to the same 24-hour news channel—and characters speak like talking action figures, Aaron Eckhart visibly struggles to ignite his role. He does a credible job; credible enough to make you wonder how he managed to get this far without playing a washed-up Marine Staff Sergeant before. In truth, the supporting cast is not terrible, but when their script direction probably reads something like “Shoot aliens and yelp with joy,” there is no hope. Special disdain is reserved for Michelle Rodriguez, who puts on her same, exhausting, “tough girl” routine. Shoehorning her into this picture is perhaps even more insulting than having no female characters at all.
Save for one or two moments of excitement and touching camaraderie, as a movie, Battle LA is forgettable. As a Marine recruitment ad targeting young Americans from middle and low income households on the other hand, well, “oorah!”