Synopsis: Strange lights descend on the city of Los Angeles, drawing people outside like moths to a flame where an extraterrestrial force threatens to swallow the entire human population off the face of the Earth as a group of friends try to escape from the alien invaders.You ever see a member of the opposite sex who is just so sexy and a sight to behold that you just know it's somebody you want to hang with? Then you get to know them and there's just nothing there, total vacancy? Yeah, that's like this movie.
The effects are fantastic and it's big and loud and filled with action. The storyline? Ouch. No substance, cardboard characters and complete uninspired foolishness. And then it's almost like they ran out of money so they just ended it. Sure, it's open-ended and up to the viewer I guess to figure out what's going on, it's just that when you put any thought in it at all, it falls to pieces.
But you can watch it for the cool giant spaceships and plenty of alien monsters, who are indestructible apparently unless you have a cinder block handy. And I did like that it sort of pulls no punches... you don't know who's going to get it or when and the end is especially bleak and against the grain of a lot of the happy endings from Hollywood.
It reminded me in many parts of Cloverfield (love it), War of the Worlds (OK), Independence Day (OK, but nearly as dumb) or maybe even Signs (like it) but doesn't really add much except the desire for some human brains. Mash those 4 movies up maybe with a slice of Battle: Los Angeles and give the characters some bad dialogue and you've pretty much got it.
Passable entertainment but missed opportunity for what could have been a really fun film I think. Too bad.
5/10
