Those pesky outer space creeps have invaded Earth once more; with their vast mother ship hovering over Los Angles (one hopes that Kenneth Johnson, the creator of the original V miniseries that first used the iconic shot of an alien ship hovering over a city, had trademarked this image--or else he’s missing out on a lot of money from all the films and TV shows that have ripped it off since), the evil aliens sent out smaller fighters (which look like flying saucers with attitude) and hunter drones that stalk individual people through the ruins of the city. The local Air National Guard is having a bad day, with most of its fighters having been shot down in the first volley of the alien invasion.
But that’s ok, because this particular unit is a resilient one. They fight back as best they can against impossible odds, and when a 1940s-era fighter lands on the air field during the battle, and the confused pilot gets out, their commander recognizes him has being one of the combat pilots who had been sent up to investigate the original Battle For Los Angeles, back in 1942. That was an actual event when the anti-aircraft batteries all over Los Angeles opened up on what was thought to be a UFO. But now we know the truth. That was the first wave of these evil critters, and this time it’s personal!
Produced by the wacky bunch at Asylum--who also gave us the it’s-so-bad-it’s-good Titanic 2--Battle Of Los Angeles is a goofy melding of Independence Day and Battle: LA by way of Skyline. The film’s extreme low budget is almost made up for by the enthusiastic, but very silly script that makes the average comic book look like Shakespeare in comparison. The motley crew fighting to defend Earth from this latest batch of invaders consists of a female pilot/warrior princess who literally does cartwheels while shooting at the aliens, and a samurai sword-wielding babe in a skin-tight outfit. To say that this flick is over the top is putting it very mildly.
But the filmmakers boldly charge forward, using cheap CGI that looks like it’s taken straight out of a bad video game, along with a stoic cast of actors reciting cheesy dialogue on sets that look like they were made out of cardboard and spray-painted silver. The result is almost as enjoyable as a turkey film, but not quite. When Battle Of Los Angeles first begins, it’s almost good, making me initially wonder if the Asylum gang were actually trying to make a halfway-decent movie. But the pacing soon begins to drag, and I found myself cheering for the aliens to wipe out this collection of assorted nuts before they embarrassed us earthlings any further.
--SF
Main Review Page | Science Fiction Reviews |Battle of Los Angeles
