By Braden Kay / Staff Writer
By Braden Kay / Staff Writer
In real life alien invasions are a scary prospect, however, in Hollywood alien invasions generally involve high budget films that are also high grossing.
“Battle: Los Angeles,” the latest movie from director Jonathan Liebesman, appears to follow this formula.
The film is a sci-fi movie that is loosely based upon the Battle of Los Angeles, an event that occurred during World War II where anti-aircraft guns were fired over Los Angeles at an unknown enemy that many people believe were unidentified flying objects.
The main story line for “Battle: Los Angeles” is that aliens are attacking the earth and have landed off the coast of Los Angeles. The movie then depicts a platoon of Marines as they struggle to fight the aliens off.
What ensues is sure to be a feast for the eyes as Hydraulx, the Brothers Strause’s special effects team, is handling the special effects for the film.
Liebesman has also stated that he hopes to use primarily natural special effects such as explosions instead of computer generated effects.
Hopefully “Battle: Los Angeles” does not fall for the same pitfalls as “Skyline,” the Brothers Strause’s last film, a big effects movie released earlier this year that relied entirely on its special effects and had little to no substance.
However, this should not be a problem as Liebesman has stated that he intends to make “Battle: Los Angeles” a realistic depiction of an alien invasion.
This does not totally alleviate concern that the movie will end up being just another special effects laden train wreck as Liebesman does not exactly have the best track record as a director. His previous credits include the-only-shown-on-Syfy classics “Darkness Falls” and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning,”
However, the cast of the film is relatively promising.
Leading the Marines is Aaron Eckhart who has consistently been good in movies such as “Rabbit Hole,” “The Dark Knight,” and “Thank You For Smoking.”
Also part of the platoon is Michelle Rodriguez who is no stranger to sci-fi action movies as she has been in movies such as “Avatar,” “Resident Evil,” and “The Fast and the Furious.”
Rounding out the cast is Ne-yo who is famous mostly for his music but has also been featured in big name movies such as “Precious.”
Other notable cast members are Bridget Moynahan and Michael Peña.
“Battle: Los Angeles” appears to have all the action and effects of a summer blockbuster. It also appears that it will try to blend realism and spectacular effects to create a movie that is a cross between “District 9” and “Independence Day.”
Hopefully this will lead to a refreshing piece of cinema that brings realism to a genre that is generally far from it.
“Battle: Los Angeles” opens March 11.
