by Lorie Lewis Ham
Special coupon for Dinuba Platinum Theatre at the end of this review.
Taking the whole family to see this movie provided me with an interesting perspective that I normally don’t get when doing a review. My 18 year old daughter hated the movie and thought it was pointless, my 54 year old husband thought it was too loud and a waste of time, my 16 year old son loved it, and I (I won’t give you my age but let’s say I’m a few years younger than my husband lol) enjoyed it but didn’t think it was great. 
In Battle: Los Angeles the world is attacked on several ocean fronts and it becomes quickly apparent that it is by aliens. One of those fronts is Southern California. A platoon of mostly very young Marines is one of many sent out to retrieve civilians before the Air Force levels Santa Monica with bombs. From the beginning you start getting to know each of these soldiers from the older of the group, staff sergeant Nantz (Aaron Eckhart), who wants to retire after seeing his entire platoon killed on his last mission, to a young boy who had to have his parent’s permission to join.
You follow this company as they make their way through to the civilians, facing an alien force more deadly than any of them dreamed and sadly we constantly lose members of the team along the way, and pick up a few as well—only one of those do we actually get to know, a young female Air Force intelligence officer. My favorite was definitely Nantz.
If you enjoy movies with non stop action this one is definitely for you. Explosions, shooting and death are constant, along with excellent special effects. Los Angeles has become the last hope for the world and the situation seems hopeless most of the way through this movie; you start just hoping that someone makes it out alive.
But contrary to how my daughter and husband felt, my son and I felt there was an underlying story of these soldiers—their fear, bravery and determination against impossible odds. You felt for them each time they lost one of their own. These characters were realistic even if the alien invasion wasn’t—well at least I sure hope not lol. They were all heroes but realistic ones—flawed, scared, at times unsure, and yet when it came down to it they did what they had to and stuck together—they were heroes. They could just as easily been soldiers on any real battle front in our real world right now.
I applaud the acting, and the writing of these characters, even if perhaps the story itself wasn’t really anything new and it left you hanging a bit. My only real complaint was the way they did the camera in the beginning—too shaky for my eyes, like the person holding the camera was right there with them running beside them—beyond that it was an enjoyable movie for me and a great movie for my son.
Rated PG-13 for sustained and intense sequences of war violence and destruction, and for language.
Battle: Los Angeles is now playing at Dinuba Platinum Theatres 6. Showtimes can be found on their website.
Print this coupon and enjoy a special discount for Kings River Life readers only!
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