MOVIE REVIEW: Battle: Los Angeles (14A)

WARNING: THIS MOVIE HAS A LOT OF VIOLENCE AND SWEARING.

STORY:
There appears to be thousands of meteors heading toward the Earth, and looks like they're going to smash into several cities but then they realize that they're not meteors they are UFOs! And they are coming to blow up the Earth and take our resources.

POSITIVE ELEMENTS:
The film shows the value of human life, as the squad puts themselves on the line to protect the civilians. Several times Nantz is willing to strike out on his own to draw away the alien fire, and a civilian and his son go over personally to Nantz to thank him for saving them and the rest of the civilian. A civilian bravely picks up a gun and shoots it at as many aliens as he can.

SPIRITUAL ELEMENTS:
None

SEXUAL CONTENT:
Some of the platoon members joke about a comrade's virginity. A Marine cracks a sexual joke after a female soldier is splashed with a dying alien's bodily fluids.

VIOLENT CONTENT:
Battle LA is pretty much one firefight after one firefight, with humans vs. whatever the aliens can think up.

A Marine is shot through his helmet, and we see the burning and bleeding results. Dead bodies litter the streets. A man's skin is crisped and cracked by fire. A helicopter full of the wounded is blown to smithereens—sending the dead and large chunks of shrapnel flying in all directions.

Perhaps the goriest scene takes place when Nantz determines to find a way to kill the seemingly indestructible enemy. He finds a wounded alien and, with the aid of a civilian veterinarian, begins to cut and stab into the creature, exposing its internal organs and searching for a weak point. After several gooey and spurting attempts, they finally hack into the creature's heart and it gurgles its last.

Armored vehicles smash through groups of aliens, crushing them beneath their wheels. A dying Marine detonates a bag full of C4, igniting a bus's fuel tank and tearing the vehicle (and surrounding enemies) to pieces. Several soldiers bury the barrels of their weapons inside a large enemy before unloading clips of ammo.

PROFANITY:
Two f-word. About 35 s-words. Twenty or so uses of "hell" Over a dozen each of "d‑‑n" and "a‑‑." About 4 uses each of "b‑‑ch" and "b‑‑tard." God's name is misused well over 20 times.

OTHER NEGATIVE ELEMENTS:
One Marine gets so drunk he vomits, and partyers down bottles of beer and other alcohol, too.

CONCLUSION:
If you loved 'Independence Day' and/or '2012' you'll love this movie, the movie had the best effects I've seen since 'Transformers'. Unfortunately; it has a bad camera, and it seems to go on a little too long. But I give it 2.5 stars out 5.