Battle Los Angeles

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. (06/20/2011)

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. (05/22/2011)

It's propaganda. Join the U.S. Marines because they're the best men on the planet and John Wayne is proud of them. World Invasion is a guilty pleasure. Despite the idiotic screenplay which is full of pathos, there are some damn spectacular action sequences, explosions, shootings and footage of a beautifully broken Los Angeles. A comparison with Crysis would be spot on. All it’s missing is a nanosuit. Aaron Eckhart as "Mr. Staff Sergeant" is the kind of military Jesus with a human face who makes the hardest of decisions and is seen as "heroic". The other soldiers are here to die (for him) or to follow him into one last battle. Yes, it’s that much of a cliché. But that doesn't matter (it's actually an incredible source of fun that keeps you smiling nearly all the way through), on top of that everything looks and sounds so good - Bryan Tyler creates a very nice soundtrack behind the heroic babbling and machine gun fire. "You'll be surfing soon, Simmons." (03/26/2011)

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. (04/06/2011)

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%. (04/19/2011)