BATTLE:LA ...Today!!!

Planning to see Battle:LA today...
Trailer was fantastic, and the definite reason for my interest in the film so we will see...
I like Aaron Eckhart and I looooves Michelle Rodriguez I does..

But so far the reviews are terrible, and it's March release date might mean a lack of faith behind the studio scenes, but I gotta decide this one for myself...

...5 hours later:

Well well well...
That was a pleasant surprise - better part of halfway through I lean over to Josh and say the same thing I said halfway through The Watchmen - "I'm liking this..." to which he responds "I know ..me too." ..and it hadn't changed by the end.
I enjoyed Battle:LA quite a bit actually.

Why?
No obvious CG - I just can't stand it - lazy filmmakers replacing reality with pixels - "We'll just CG it out later." I hate you. You imbeciles are ruining movies. I will make a feature film with no fucking CG...
Anyway, the film plays fast and busy, and if that's not your cup of tea - don't go. If you like a war drama with a few solid characters and a forward driven script with no pretension you may enjoy Battle:LA as much as I did. Black-Hawk Down with aliens - yup, that works for me.

No superheroics - Another juvenile trapping of modern action films is the "superheroic human" - annoyingly lame. As soon as someone jumps four stories and hangs onto a moving vehicle with one hand while shooting, I'm kinda gone from it - people die in this one, and die logically.

The Aliens - great design ...weird and new...
There's an excellent scene with our resolute soldiers attempting to "kill" one of the creatures - we get human desperation and real special effects ...allllriiight, this is science fiction adventure at it's best, and I am a real sci-fi fan.

The scene with the kid - you'll know what I mean when I say it goes from predictable to touching in two seconds - it's just a good scene.

The Ending - Excellent for a few reasons - I believe it's the human element that makes good sci-fi - and it's abundant here in an intense, smart finale that borrows from stuff I love while showing me something fresh & new.
Amazing FX.


Michelle Rodriguez - 'nuff said.

Thanks to Aaron Eckhart(are his characters always impatient?) and his faith in Jonathan Liebesman's vision. It was a good one.