Battle: Los Angeles reviews damning

14 March 2011

John Howell

I’ve not had the chance to watch Battle: Los Angeles yet, but if you were hoping for a well-written science fiction masterpiece, it appears you may be out of luck. A series of early reviews of the film have been resoundingly bad, making it sound almost as unwatchable as last year’s Skyline (although I can’t imagine it could actually reach that level).

The popular US film critic, Roger Ebert, was particularly scathing, calling Battle: Los Angeles “noisy, violent, ugly and stupid”.

He gave this advice to young men and women who decide to waste money on tickets:

“Young men: If you attend this crap with friends who admire it, tactfully inform them they are idiots. Young women: If your date likes this movie, tell him you've been thinking it over, and you think you should consider spending some time apart.”

Most critics seem to agree that the dialogue and characters are clichéd beyond belief, the action unoriginal and monotonous (much like a video game) and the script shallow and uninteresting.

“I don't know why this movie exists,” said Diva Velez from TheDivaReview.com. ”A completely unoriginal mash-up of every good alien invasion film there's ever been, resulting in an ugly, uninspired, laughably bad mess that'll give you motion sickness while making your ears bleed”.

Even the special effects, usually the strong point in Hollywood blockbusters that have nothing else going for them, seem to have failed to win anyone over in this case. Disturbingly, along with the video game comparison, many have compared the film to a 2-hour military recruitment video.

Tom Long from Detroit News wrote that Battle: Los Angeles “feels so much like a videogame your hands keep reaching for controllers -- shoot the aliens, shoot the aliens, shoot the aliens.”

Kim Newman at Empire Magazine wrote: “Pretty much cardboard, down to the heroic patriotic speeches, and less distinctive even than last year's scarcely stellar Skyline, which trashed the same city.”

I had high hopes for Battle: Los Angeles, especially after the first haunting trailer with music from the experimental Icelandic musician, Jóhann Jóhannsson, but it appears I’ll have to reassess and prepare myself for the worst.

What really bothers me is that I keep thinking about the other classic science fiction alien encounter stories I read as a kid. Why can’t one of these make its way to the big screen in some form? Books like Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End, Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land, Larry Niven’s Footfall, Greg Bear’s Eon - just to name four off the top of my head. These books contain infinitely more thought provoking moments than you’ll find in a thousand Hollywood special effect driven alien blockbusters. I can’t be the only one who would appreciate more depth and more thought? Who do I have to talk to in Hollywood to make it happen? Anyone want to help me write a script?

Battle: Los Angeles is directed by Jonathan Liebesman and stars Michelle Rodriguez (Avatar and Lost), Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight), and Bridget Moynahan (I, Robot). It’s out in the US and the UK ( and will be released in other countries in the coming weeks). Watch it if you dare.

Related Articles

Third trailer for Battle: Los Angeles ...
The third trailer for Battle: Los Angeles is even more impre...

Skyline wins worst movie of the year award...
With a silly, half-dimensional storyline, characters most pe...

Full-scale alien invasion in Skyline: official trailer and p...
Alien invasion is a science fiction theme frequently explore...