^ Agreed.
Friends, I just got back from this and it was awful. Granted, I was sitting a bit off-center and the speakers were cranked way too loud to the point where I had to cover my ears during the action sequences, but it still sucked balls. And here's the thing: I loved Battle: LA, and they're pretty much the same movie. So why does one suck and the other rule?
- Characters: Battle has upstanding Marines who are terrified of the aliens, but fight back with boundless courage. C&A has two mains that are loathsome, cruel and humorless. And no one is anywhere near as afraid as the aliens as they should be.
- Story: Battle starts as a rescue story, moves into survival, then ends in attack. C&A is one big hunt movie. Incidents happen, but nothing much changes.
- Kids: Battle has some kids that must be protected and comforted, and are credibly useless. C&A has a precocious youngun, who, trusty dog by his side, kills him a full-grown alien. Puke.
- Women: Battle has two tough women. C&A has a dead flashback chick and a humorless, character-free broad.
- The ending: Battle finishes on a tough but hopeful note. C&A ends with everyone joyfully celebrating a mere day or so after incredibly traumatic events, complete with gratuitous American flags everywhere. Yuck.
- The matchup: I never believed the cowboys and their dinky little pistols could actually down those aliens. Though the Marines were badly outmatched, with their modern weaponry, they at least had a fighting chance.
This one's a real stinker; I haven't disliked a movie this much since (Pretentious) Days of Summer. D.