Battle:Los Angeles is Independance Day for a new generation, and yes, the effects are awesome but they are anything but 'glossy'. They are gritty and VERY photo-real. Be prepared to be dragged kicking and screaming into a frantic combat scenario where due to the mostly extreme close- up hand-held camera work (more on that later), you feel like you are running, dodging, ducking and fighting to survive along with the company of soldiers.
While news reports talk of 'meteors' heading for earth, we see Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight) as Staff Sgt. 'Nantz' having his retirement approved and you just know it's going to be short lived. When all he'll breaks loose, he's asked to fill in and work under a younger inexperienced officer and put up with the stares and whispers about what he may have done wrong on his last mission.
The story is cleverly kept simple with the group tasked to get to a police station to rescue civilians before the Army bombs the entire area. Not everything goes to plan and it becomes a massive fight just to get out alive.
If I had to pick a negative, it would be the aforementioned camera work which on a huge screen can be incredibly overwhelming. I think it will be easier to watch on Blu Ray on your flat screen but it certainly will not be as immersive.
I was expecting this to be another 'handy-cam' film like Cloverfield, but this is not the case. It's just that the camera rarely stays still. While this film is it's own entity, there are elements and homages to other films like Independance Day, Assualt on Precinct 13 & Black Hawk Down.
I was very fortunate to see this courtesy of Empire Australia Magazine (thanks guys!) and I highly recommend it and am so glad I got to experience it, because it is an amazing experience. 8/10
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