Mission : Los Angeles

Battle: Los Angeles is the kind of movie that ends with one of those defeat the enemy by blowing up the one magical thing which can hurt them and conveniently isn't guarded scenarios.

While it certainly could have used a script polish or two, Battle: Los Angeles is still a slick event pic, and a good ride for action junkies such as myself.

Battle est foncièrement épais, c'est donc dire riche. Tout y est d'une lourdeur plus ou moins supportable selon les goûts et l'endurance du spectateur.

Au bilan de cette production pompière dénuée d'originalité : un scénario à numéros, un dialogue surabondant, un montage frénétique et une réalisation brouillonne.

Il y a de tout, dans Battle L.A.. Mais tellement de tout que cette superproduction-hommage aux p'tits gars des Marines en devient vite indigeste.

That's pretty much the whole movie: an extended shootout between warm-hearted human soldiers, played with off-the-rack masculine sensibilities, and a horde of insect-like invaders with no emotional palette whatsoever.

An effects-laden docu-drama-style action fantasy in which a few stealthy American soldiers take everything some fearsome alien invaders can throw at them, this on-the-cheap mash-up of Black Hawk Down and War of the Worlds promises a lot more than it delivers despite a few spectacular shots of massive destruction.

Battle could have burned through Santa Monica, Los Angeles or Rancho Cucamonga. The movie still would buckle from cardboard protagonists and a script that echoes a Marine recruitment video.

The film has to take itself seriously enough to engage the viewer's emotions, creating credible vicarious fear and exhilaration as the story unfolds. But there also has to be enough lightness - velocity, surprise, even humor - to fulfill the basic escapist mandate.