Battle: Los Angeles

BATTLE: LOS ANGELES (2011) - Mar. 25, 2011
I should have known that the guy behind the absolutely worthless Texas Chainsaw prequel (not to mention Darkness Falls, another terrible horror film) couldn't possibly have a good -- or even just decent -- movie in him.  About a group of generic soldiers who find themselves right in the middle in an alien invasion in L.A., this film confirms without a doubt that Jonathan Liebesman has absolutely no business being anywhere near a camera.  That he still has a career after his string of absolutely awful films is a puzzlement, to say the least.  And they're giving him another big movie -- Wrath of the Titans.  I don't get it.  Filmed with a drab, drained-of-all-colour visual style (even the pre-invasion stuff), the film pretty much never looks good.  Worse, Liebesman films everything -- from action to dialogue -- in tight close-ups with the shakiest camera imaginable.  You can basically follow what's going on, but the overactive editing style combined with the shaky camerawork and Liebesman's complete lack of finesse as a director makes for some completely unengaging action set-pieces.  And the film is essentially ALL action.  We get about ten minutes at the beginning to establish the bland, generic soldiers and then it's pretty much non-stop action until the credits roll.  I was sort of going with it for a while, but the terrible action combined with the complete lack of characters worth caring about completely wore me down.  I was exceptionally bored by the end of the film, and very much ready for it to be over.  Boo-urns.  *1/2