Where was I? Yeah, Battle: Los Angeles. There were at least three different times during the movie when I said, I’m almost positive I’ve seen this before…Oh, that’s right, Independence Day.

Don’t get me wrong, B:LA was a whole heap of alien fun (and really, who can resist that?), but at least add the subtitle Independence Day 2 or mention that it was loosely inspired by ID or something. (Stop reading now if you haven’t already seen it or skip the checklist because it’s going to get a little spoiler-y.)

Let’s see…

• Alien mother ships positioning themselves over key cities around the world? Check.
• Aliens kicking ass and taking names without so much as a hello? Check.
• Soldiers being called in on their days off (or in some cases, retirement)? Check.
• Aliens disabling all useful means of communication (or using said useful means of communication against the military)? Check.
• Soldier randomly stumbling over a half-dead alien and deciding to use it to gain some intell.? Check.
• Soldiers having their asses handed to them by the aliens until soldiers figure out blowing up mother ship will disable all the mini alien drone ships? Check.
• Ginormous alien mother ship crashing majestically into the horizon? Check.
• Human race getting a fighting chance? Check.
• Soldiers using Morse code to tell all the other world leaders how to take out the aliens (hint: blow up the mother ships)? Check.

There are far more similarities that I’m sure I’m missing, but even if you’ve already seen and enjoyed Independence Day, I’d still recommend seeing Battle: Los Angeles. Why? Because of the artistic direction, actually.

One thing about Battle: Los Angeles that was vastly different from Independence Day was how realistically the war was portrayed. Basically, Battle: Los Angeles was plausible. Should aliens decide they want our water and they’re not going to ask first, what ensues may look a lot like that movie. Gives me shivers just to think about it. Whereas Independence Day was just good ol’ action-packed implausible alien invasion fun.

The special effects were awesome, the pacing was decent (though a few scenes lagged), and the acting was passable. I’ll probably be adding it to my DVD collection in the future…next to Independence Day.