Move it, soldier!

I caught Battle: Los Angeles this past weekend (wife opted out). It turned out to be an agreeable, watchable alien invasion movie. To tell the truth, though, the battle action and war spectacle were pretty generic and didn't have much to do with the fact that the invaders were aliens from another world.

For the most part, with the exception of an occasional glance at an alien soldier or one of their flying drone ships, the invaders could just as well have been the Red Chinese. In short, during the course of the movie, the emphasis was pretty much on how cool and brave the U.S. Marines were. Which was fine. Just don't go looking for a long, detailed look at an imagined alien culture, and you might not be disappointed.

Further, a movie like this definitely goes to show you the value of a good actor. Aaron Eckhart (he was Harvey Dent, a.k.a. Two-Face in The Dark Knight) plays a battle-scarred sergeant who helps a group of Marines undertake a rescue mission. Eckhart's portrayal- earthy, tough, heartfelt- makes you forget you're watching a big special effects movie and gets you to genuinely care about his and his soldiers' fates.