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Released recently (March 2011), Battle: Los Angeles is a fairly decent war movie, or war actioner (whatever it is), wherein a platoon of brave Marines take on murderous extraterrestrial beings that are unexpectedly invading various countries.  Aaron Eckhart never makes a false move in his role as a military man, viz. Sgt. Nantz, and the movie’s special effects are, I think, just what they should be.  Battle has been criticized for its shaky-cam, but shaky-cam or not the action footage seldom disappoints.  One potent scene, for example, has Nantz rush out to put several children on an ascending helicopter, only to witness the helicopter get horrifically blasted by the space aliens before it can re-land for the children. 

One might object that the characters are made of cardboard, but there is no real place for individual human complexity in battlefield sequences. 

Directed by Jonathan Liebesman, Battle: Los Angeles is not a great entertainment, but there is fun to be had.  It is hardly free of banality, but it means business.  Too, it sincerely honors the Marine Corps.