Damned Aliens!!!!

It's all about Alien Invasion at the cinema at the moment. Between Paul, I am Number 4, Battle: LA and Mars Needs Moms, I fear our civilisation may be lost forever.

Wednesday 23rd February: I went to see I AM NUMBER 4, starring Alex Pettyfer et al. I watched it at the IMAX which always helps make cinema going that bit extra special. Although part of me does miss the trailers (note: not the adverts). It is yet another book adaptation (by Pittacus Lore)  which again, as I've been told, is nothing like the book. But then again they never are, nor do I expect them to be. I really enjoyed this film. I enjoyed the character interaction and thought that the set up of the story was well balanced with the action pack last half.

I'll admit, I am quite partial to a bit of eye candy, so Alex Pettyfer made the watching quite easy. That said I would never like something just because it featured a hunk, I'm not that shallow (at least I hope not). I think he did a pretty good job, although thanks to A-Level English I did struggle to shake the image of a floppy haired Tom Brown.

Early on it became pretty clear Michael Bay was involved in this film. Although he didn't direct this film, it definitely had an air of "Bayness" to it. Plenty of explosions for one, admittedly not quite to his usual level. The biggest give away for me was the Alien knife used by the guardians, it looked like they stole it of the set of The Transformers. 

My friend and I also simultaneously spotted "Joshua" from Dark Angel. Apparently the voice was not a character decision but the only way Kevin Durand can talk when forced to wear a pair of pointy knashers. That said, don't take it as a negative, merely an interesting observation between friends.

Overall I personally enjoyed this film, good ol' action fun. It didn't give me a headache from being overly complicated nor did I end up comatose from dullness. A pretty good balance I think. I would be quite interested in seeing if they end up making a sequel to this, as there is more in the book than the film and I would like to see the story concluded. Good watch.

Wednesday 16th March: Battle: Los Angeles

Relentless "edge of you seat" action. That is both a good thing and bad. It kept the adrenaline going and it kept your eyes glued to the screen, but you couldn't relax. There was no let up to the tension, no moment in the film where you could take a breather and gather your nerves for the next onslaught of action. This at times left you feeling a little bit stressed during the film.

I would also have like to see the Aliens in a bit more detail. Glances at them were always fleeting and you never really got a good look to the point where you could say, "oh that's what they look like ". Even when they found the injured one, close ups of that were just a gooey mess of stuff.

I also noticed that Michelle Rodriguez still hasn't managed to shake her type casting. I swear I only ever see her in combat gear. Still, she is one of favourite kick ass actresses so I don't have too much of a problem with that. 

Furthermore, to my utter relief the Aliens didn't drop down dead from the flu, fantastic. There was no quick fix ending to this film, not one cleverly aimed missile and we're all saved either. I was absolutely astounded that they didn't aim for a neat and easy ending which makes a change from a lot of the end of world/invasion films. At the the end of it the battle and the war waged on which was refreshing. 

Explosive action fun, if not a little to much.