Aliens invade Earth. They attack major cities. It's up to the US Marines to fight them.
No, this is not ID4.
These guys are stationed outside of Los Angeles, so that's where the battle happens. They are engaging creatures they know nothing about, and the aliens seem to be virtually invulnerable to the M16 rifles that the Marines have... until they find an almost lifeless alien body and figure out where to hit them. From then on, seemingly every shot takes one down. Even the best marksman are going to miss every now and then in the middle of battle, but not these guys.
Our hero, Aaron Eckhart, is a marine with a past that is not well understood by his comrades. As a result, command has a lot of faith in him, and his peers have a misplaced fear and dislike of him. His job in this role is to be freindly enough to like and disciplined enough for you to take him seriously as a soldier and hero. I think he does a good enough job, and that is, unfortunately, what Aaron usually does; good enough. He didn't blow me away, but he successfully filled a role.
Who brings more strong female to a role than Michelle Rodriguez? For my dollar, nobody. She plays the same hard-nosed , no-guff-taking, get-the-job-done woman in almost every role where she puts on a uniform, and I guess that means she is type-cast, but so is Jason Statham, and I like him in movies, too.
Michael Peña plays a man who is saved by the Marines with his son and honestly, he has more acting to do in this film than pretty much anybody. He does a good job, and that's all we needed.
Acting was good enough
Direction was good
Effects were very good
Cinematography was good - could have been better
Action was good.
3.0/5