“Battle: Los Angeles” was directed by Jonathan Liebesman, who previously directed “Darkness Falls”, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning” & “The Killing Room”. The film stars Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Ramon Rodriguez, Ne-Yo, Michael Pena & Bridget Moynahan.

Meteors begin to hit off shores of major cities around the world. Staff Sargent Mike Nantz (Eckhart) who is own the brink of retirement, is called back in to action as meteors hit off the coast of L.A. Newly promoted, Lieutenant Willie Martinez (Ramon) join Nantz and his unit which include Corporal Harris (Ne-Yo) and USAF Tech Sargent Santos (Michelle). The unit mobile across the streets L.A. in search of a police station where a small group of civilians are held up. As the group begin to head out, word spreads that from these meteors, an alien race have begun to over run the coast and quickly get past he military & the Air Force. As the unit get to the station they find businessman (Pena) and his son along with a veterinarian (Moynahan) and her 2 nieces. The army is outmatched and unprepared and with time running out, this small unit must get the civilians to safety while trying to stop this alien invasion before they wipe out the entire west coast in one night.

This film to a different approach to the alien invading plot. Movies like “Independence Day” or “Starship Troopers” took big scope and blockbuster approach while “Battle: Los Angeles” felt much smaller. That being said, this film is quite entertaining. It does that the invasion cliches but overall not half bad. Eckhart gives a great performance as a soldier on his way out but carries a tragic burden throughout the film. Ne-Yo & Michelle Rodriguez are solid but them along with the rest of the cast are pretty much forgettable. The film does have some solid action sequences. The films does have a slight similarity to the 1998 version “Godzilla”, being a a great popcorn movie with mediocre performances from a not well known cast.

Following the film’s generic box office revenue, Aaron Eckhart went on to star in 2013’s “Olympus Has Fallen” and its 2016 sequel as well as other films including “I, Frankenstein”, “Sully” & “Midway”.  Jonathan Liebesman went to direct 2012’s “Wraith of the Titans” & 2014’s reboot of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”. Michelle Rodriguez would return to both the “Resident Evil” film franchise as well as the “Fast & Furious” franchise. With the exception of 2012’s “Red Tails” Ne-Yo would focus more in his music career while still acting on the small screen with appearance in TV shows like “Empire” & “The Mindy Project”. He was cast as the “Tin Man” in a TV movie version of “The Wiz”.