‘Battle: Los Angeles’

Director: Jonathan Liebesman

Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodrigues, Ramon Rodriguez, Michael Pena

0/5 popcorns

The worst movies always manage to annoy or anger the audience in a manner unrelated to the quality of acting, writing or direction. In ‘Battle: Los Angeles,’ for example, the actual setting of the movie — Los Angeles, a beautiful and interesting city with unique character and physicality — is not at all recognizable. In the film, the city is merely a mess of rubble that could easily pass off as San Antonio or Tallahassee. There are no shots establishing the city or its identity.

In ‘Battle: Los Angeles,’ the name of the second-most populated city in the states is used as a marketing ploy,making the ludicrous spectacle of the film all the more laughable.

The film has a clearly defined plot, but it isn’t much of a story. Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart) plans to retire. But to the surprise of absolutely no one,he’s sucked into one last battle when aliens invade the earth in an attempt to steal our water. Nantz leads a team of Marines against the considerably more powerful extraterrestrials,all while trying to rescue a conveniently stranded family.

What ultimately separates the film from other similarly noisy and turbulent explosion-heavy flicks is its utter lack of commitment to every aspect of filmmaking. While ‘Transformers’ and ‘2012’ are at least occasionally creative in their methods of depicting destruction, ‘Battle: Los Angeles’ is a monochrome mess of uninteresting booms and blasts,which amount to nothing.

The dialogue cannot be considered subpar, simply because the characters rarely talk. They speak in one-sentence military clichés, just as annoying as the constant onslaught of bullets. Every actor,with the exception of Eckhart,contributes equally to the most pitiably performed drama in recent years. The family the Marines scoop up is included only to manipulate the audience, perhaps because the filmmakers were keenly aware that viewers might not care if any of the indistinguishable soldiers died.

Epitomizing America’s increased tolerance for brainless action fare, ‘Battle: Los Angeles’ is not necessarily aggravating because it’s so sloppy, but because it is so convinced of its prestige. In its complete failure to execute movie making without completely embarrassing itself, it makes ‘Independence Day’ look like ‘Citizen Kane.’

 

 

‘Paul’

Director: Greg Mottola

Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman

4/5 popcorns

It’s possible Judd Apatow isn’t America’s foremost comedy director. While ‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin,’ ‘Knocked Up’ and ‘Funny People’ are certainly masterpieces in their genre, ‘Paul’ director Greg Mottola makes a hard push for supremacy in the field with another great work: an alien comedy that exemplifies his versatility. The director of ‘Superbad’ and the even better coming-of-age comedy ‘Adventureland,’ Mottola proves he belongs among the elite with one of the very best alien movies to come along in years.

On holiday at San Diego’s Comic-Con, British comic book geeks Graeme Willy (Simon Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Nick Frost) decide to visit the most famous sites of alien encounters in their rented RV. Shortly after embarking on their expedition,they encounter real alien Paul (Seth Rogen), a swearing, pot-smoking, flip-flop-wearing extraterrestrial. He claims to be hunted by the government,despite offering enormous help the past few decades. Tasked with halting Paul’s attempt to phone home is Agent Lorenzo Zoil (Jason Bateman), whose orders are doled out over the phone by a venomous woman who hints at the danger of letting Paul leave.

In ‘Battle: Los Angeles,’ the aliens are so unoriginal it seems the creator actually tried to make them bland in spite of their potential. In ‘Paul,’ the title alien is as vibrant and engaging as the finest characters in American film thus far in 2011.

Rogen is an ace funnyman with a terrific voice he knows how to use. But without his marvelous supporting cast, his character would not be anywhere near as effective. A veritable dream team of comics, the picture features ‘Shaun of the Dead’ and ‘Hot Fuzz’ creators Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in the lead roles and ‘Arrested Development’ star Jason Bateman in the largest supporting role.’Saturday Night Live’ gem Kristen Wiig plays Paul’s love interest, and ‘Superbad’s’ Bill Hader and Jo Lo Truglio are supporting players. This unique melding of tremendous comedic talents is expertly overseen by director Mottola.

Even if the film doesn’t necessarily turn the alien subgenre on its ear, it’s a fresh sigh of relief for a four-month stretch filled with sickeningly bland and unoriginal comedies. In Mottola’s zany alien road trip romp, an ‘E.T.’ meets ‘Dumb & Dumber’ flick, the talent showcased is so terrific that one feels spoiled exiting the theater.

smlittma@syr.edu

Published on March 23, 2011 at 12:00 pm