Inwazja: Bitwa o Los Angeles

Wow! A film where hostile aliens invade earth is a fan of those who want to defend it (the American army)? Who would have said? I understand that not everybody will like Battle Los Angeles, it’s far from a great film, but that several reviews will say that it’s an almost unwatchable epic fail... Really? It might be so for those whose ideology makes them prefer a film that relativises the evils committed by Islamic terrorists over one that celebrates the efforts of the American army. Battle Los Angeles is a very well made, but fairly stupidly written action film, which is the best possible result if you’ve come to terms with the fact this won’t be any new smart science fiction classic. The film is unbearably “American” in only three scenes, but that’s more than compensated by all the cool moments. To relax at the cinema? Ideal! 8/10 PS: Everyone (including Sony) is comparing Battle Los Angeles to other films, so: Independence Day: BLA is more realistic, dirty and, fortunately, without humour, and a little less pathetic. Cloverfield: Even though BLA isn’t shot with hand-held cameras, the action scenes give the impression that the cameraman is right there, and the monsters are shown as if by the way. Black Hawk Down: I related to the soldiers in both films in a similar way: very little. The action is just as realistic, but in BLA, unlike BHD, it didn’t bore me in the end thanks to – I admit – the more interesting enemies. 2012: BLA is a thousand times more compelling that Emmerich’s latest attempt at catastrophe. Skyline: The low-budget flick by the Straus brothers is worse in every aspect (and in some, like the direction, much worse), with the exception of the monster design. District 9: Blomkamp’s début is much smarter, but the craftsmanship is at the same level. Besides, whereas BLA is silly from the get go, District 9 becomes silly in the second half, which makes it inconsistent. Starship Troopers: The propaganda in BLA is about 5% of the “theoretically serious” Starship Troopers. (10.03.2011)

Haters gonna hate, although in terms of this film, I find the amount of hateful flame quite misguided. Regarding the combination of a war film with an alien invasion, I can think of half a dozen directors who could distill this into the ultimate genre crossover, and yet I still find relative satisfaction with this film. Liebesman drains the budget in the right direction, i.e., with great special effects and the impressive set design of the "American Mogadishu." Unfortunately, he doesn't have enough talent to function in more than just the field of quality craft. In the deluge of pathos, I searched in vain for stronger characters to give it more personal moments, to lighten it up with the occasional catchphrase, and if they did shout, to do so in grandiose style. Liebesman is just skimming the surface of all this but no one is fully into it. Instead, he lets the unit proceed according to the laws of video games until the final fireworks display, preceded by resisting an onslaught for three minutes. Who cares that it’s not logical? I’m giving it a better 3 stars, but after it's pulled from the movie theaters, no one is going to remember it. (07.04.2011)

A guilty pleasure with shooting, concrete, smoke, shooting, metal, explosions, more shooting ... and all of that over and over again. A spectacular “war of machines” in the destroyed dusty streets of L.A. Though it’s not elegant and lofty in Michael Bay’s fashion, Battle: Los Angeles is realistically gritty. The demented dialogue and hardcore pathos do not degrade the film, but give it a detached, fun dimension reminiscent of Starship Troopers. The question is whether that is intentional. Anyway, Jonathan Liebesman turns out to be a decent action director. And this is a movie I dreamed about when I was fourteen and had just watched Terminator 2 :-) (10.03.2011)

A goofy rather than aggressively stupid application of video-game principles in a film and, at the same time, an atrocious example of where the demands of political correctness can lead us. Men and women, civilians and soldiers, Hispanics, Blacks and Asians must join forces so that they can face down the bastards from god knows where. But they’re definitely not from the planet Earth, so there’s no problem with killing them by the dozens. ___ I was much more entertained the second time around and fully appreciate the well-thought-out camerawork, which shows us only as much as the soldiers can see, which reinforced my initial impression that this is one of the most video-game-like Hollywood action movies of recent years. More thorough study is required. 75% (11.03.2011)

This film gets such a low rating for two simple reasons. First, people seem to forget that some movies exist purely to entertain, and this one is meant to do that on a massive scale—something that’s best experienced in a theater. The soundtrack was epic, one of the best I’ve heard in a long time, and it would’ve been perfect on the big screen. Sure, the camera shook a bit at times, but it was never unbearable, and the key action moments were definitely visible. The thing that really bugs me, though, is that I didn’t get to watch this in theaters. This is the kind of film you grab a giant tub of popcorn for, a large soda, and just hope your popcorn doesn’t explode from excitement and the bubbles in your drink don’t fizz over with the adrenaline. The action was that good. The combination of intense action and an incredible orchestral score has been a recipe for great blockbusters in the past, and this film hits that mark. But people will knock it down because it doesn’t have a deep, intricate plot, the camera work can be jarring, or there’s too much sentimentality in the dialogue. Honestly, none of that bothered me here. The biggest issue, though, is that people don’t approach this as the popcorn flick it’s meant to be. Worse, they probably watched it at home, downloaded from the internet in terrible quality, and then complain about how it didn’t hold their attention. That’s just something I’ll never understand. Battle: Los Angeles delivers exactly what a good action-packed blockbuster should. It maximizes its strengths, and I’m totally satisfied with that. If nothing else, this movie nailed the entertainment factor. (23.05.2011)