Battle Los Angeles
starring Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Ramon Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan, Ne-yo and Michael Peňa
written by Chris Bertolini
directed by Jonathan Liebesman
Rating: ♦♦♦◊◊
A squad of U.S. Marines struggles to drive invading aliens out of Los Angeles. Not just L.A. It is a coordinated extraterrestrial invasion (“from Canada”) and colonization of our planet in order to exploit our natural resources. Very noisy and violent. Explosions, shouting, shooting and shrapnel fill the screen almost for two solid hours. It is a post Iraq-and Afghanistan War re-make of Independence Day (1996, starring Will Smith), and typically mawkishly celebratory of U.S. troops. I recognized Michelle Rodriguez as the helicopter pilot form Avatar (2009, James Cameron), and Aaron Eckhart from a whole lotta stuff.