Movie Review - Battle: Los Angeles

Honestly, I had really low expectations for "Battle: Los Angeles", and as I've said numerous times on this blog, low expectations is key for a good movie watching experience.  Surprisingly, this movie wasn't terrible...in fact it wasn't even bad.  And, as a bonus, there was no Michael Ironside, which I was expecting in this movie...he's typically in any movie like this.

In "Battle: Los Angeles" meteors are crashing to earth, at least that's what the silly humans think.  But, it turns out the meteors are aliens, and they are bent on taking over earth and using it's resources.  Yes, we've seen this movie before.  This is where we meet Staff Sargent Nantz (Aaron Eckhart), who is part of a group of marines responsible for clearing civilians from a lost area of Los Angeles before the Air Force bombs the snot out of that specific area.  The remainder of the movie follows these few marines as they save the civilians and eventually find the key to defeating the alien invaders.

Aaron Eckhart is actually really good at Sgt. Nantz.  I've been seeing Aaron Eckhart in more movies lately, dating back to "The Dark Knight".  I really like him as an actor.  The rest of the cast is not memorable, but Eckhart manages to carry the cast well enough.

The story is interesting.  Usually these types of movies focus on the President and some other "top level" guys who are trying to stop the invading aliens.  Sometimes they even have Wil Smith, just because it always helps having Wil Smith when facing off against aliens.  So, to see a relatively small group of "regular guys" just carrying out their part of the job was sort of refreshing.  Of course, having them save the day was also important to making this a true "Hollywood alien movie."

I think I'll rate "Battle: Los Angeles" 4 stars.  It might have been 3 if I would have had higher expectations, but given the low expectations I started with, I'm pleased with how much I enjoyed this movie.

Book Review: The Power of Six

The Power of Six is the 2nd book in the Lorien Legacies series by Pittacus Lore (a Pseudonym for the 2 guys working on this series).  You will recall that I really liked I Am Number Four, and I liked the 2nd book as well. 

This 2nd book continues to follow John Smith (a.k.a Number Four), but in this story, we also get to know Six, who we met at the end of the first book, Seven (a.k.a Marina) and Nine.  The Power of Six takes place over a very short period of time, and thus moves extremely fast and is packed with action.  The story continues to follow the conflict between the Lorien's (good aliens) and Mogadorians (bad aliens) on earth.  The Mogadorians are trying to exterminate the remaining Loriens before they attain their full power...yes they have super powers.  Trust me, it's a good story.

You will discover that this book does not have top notch writing.  I mean, it's not terrible, but I wouldn't describe it as literary genius either.  Still, this was a great read and I'm excited about the third book, which will probably come out next summer.  My brief internet search did not reveal a title, and I'm too lazy to keep digging.