Battle Los Angeles

Another shining proof that only perfect visual effects and bombastic action can't provide enough for a whole film. Battle Los Angeles is nothing more than a cold parade of loud explosions, falling buildings and moronic dialogue lacking a coherent script or even a hint of human emotion to give the action on screen some authenticity. Liebesman may handle the action with bravado, but an elite director should at least be able make a juicy and medium-rare steak out of the premise, and not just throw a slab of raw and cold meat at the viewer (anyone who's seen Black Hawk Down knows what I'm talking about)... 50% (29/06/2013)

I am not the target audience and I already knew what I was getting into with this film, so I was not disappointed in any way. However, I will not give it a higher rating just because of that. The Cold War ended, and so it was necessary to find a new target and a worthy opponent for the American marines who could resist them for at least a few hours. It is not so much because it is pathetic, pro-American, and who knows what else, it is simply because it is too dull, monotonous, and predictable for me. As a teenager, I would have definitely added a star, but I stand by my review. Overall impression: 25%. (19/04/2011)

The rate of use of the word civilian greatly exceeds the rate of fire. In fact, it is used to liberally that I started thinking that they were trying to make it the most universal expression in modern English - the mind boggles at all the places where creators wanted to slip in their darned civilian. So at least it made them happy, even if they couldn’t do the same for the audience. A movie with civilian (read spoiled) shaky shots where even civilians (read boars) are lost for words. (23/05/2011)

Black Hawk Down meets District 9 and Independence Day. A great cliché lurks around every corner. A group of soldiers (the commander "with a past", his white, black and yellow men, who also of course include a female pilot who "happens" to know a lot, and of course a few adult and child civilians) are fighting with aliens who resemble mechanical Predators with the intelligence of inmates of an institute for space idiots. It is done very effectively, but unfortunately in a completely undramatic and empty way. Because of the stupid script, I didn't believe in the characters at all. A big mistake and a shame all in one. That said, certain scenes are really good, it just needed to be more original and steal less from other films. That gets it two and a half mediocre stars. (09/04/2011)

It’s incredibly how Liebesman handled this project. With a relatively small budget, he created a monumental-looking (title, trailer, posters) and yet very modest sci-fi film, full of very impressive visual effects and absolutely thrilling action (shots and panoramic camera sweeps like Michael Bay). The protagonists may not be as cool as in other films, but that's not the main focus here. In essence, it's a mix of all possible films, and everyone takes exactly as much of their own portion as they want. It has pathos, emotions, action, excellent sound design, quotes, likeable actors, heroism – basically everything we expect from this kind of movie. It lacks a budget for an even bigger inferno, but the director knew exactly what he was doing. With a bigger budget, it wouldn't be this cute winking at the film world, but a proper mess. PS: The best aliens in terms of philosophy and execution still remain those from Independence Day. (21/06/2011)