Battle Los Angeles : My Review

You're generalising by calling anyone who likes the film a "meathead". Makes you a meathead. I agree there are flaws, the script is by the weakest element of the film. By that I mean the dialogue, there are some ropey lines in there. I think the shakey camera is overdone and it takes away some of the focus from the action and also the aliens. I think Staff Sergeant Nantz's character is by far the most interesting and certainly the strongest. I thought the Nigerian born Corpsman Aduku was interesting and they could've done more with him. I think with the film, you either accept it or you don't. There's no middle-ground. For me, it's an unadulterated love letter to the USMC more than anything. And in doing so, it tries to portray a certain reality. I.e the young marines ribbing the virgin for instance. It was more of an initiation ritual more than anything. There's also the "marines don't quit" thing, they're obviously trying to establish the character of the USMC more than anything. It gets up some people's noses because they think it's a recruiting ad or they feel it's clichéd. I just see it as an entertaining film that finally shows an alien invasion from the perspective of the serviceman/woman. Even though it plays like a war film it does enough to stand out as an alien invasion film as well. It's also about how war has changed them. If you look at the final slew of young marines, namely Imlay, Harris and Lockett (you don't care I know but they're reference points). Then you see how the conflict has changed them, how it's etched on their faces. Plus when you think about the young boy Hector losing his Dad like that. And what the other two young girls experienced. There is an underlying theme about the loss of innocence. It doesn't centre on that strongly, nonetheless it's present. I don't really see how you can explore the characters too much without making the whole thing overlong. Even with Black Hawk Down, you don't get a lot of character development for all the soldiers. But since it's based on an actual event, it lends itself gravitas. Although that film has a much different focus to it.