TheRetroCritic

Let the bird mayhem begin... again. And this time: they're slightly bigger. Basically more of the same, which should make fans of the original very happy indeed. Apart from the obvious, expected mix of groan-inducing acting, gratuitous ladies-in-their underwear shots, awful sound, shit effects and so on, it seems Birdemic 2 has more of a sense of humour. Take this moment for example: The guys are shooting at some evil vultures (yes that IS meant to be a gunshot on the top right)... When THIS happens: That's just genius. I also like the bird (in the foreground) crashing into the Hollywood sign which is, in fact, waaaay into the background. Did not see that coming. The trailer ends with a weird scene where the girls hit someone with a tripod and their head explodes: Come on! That's not even close to making contact! Yeah I don't know what that scene's about but... I look forward to finding out! A worthy

Alien invasion disaster movies have always been a hit-and-miss affair. From the old Earth vs The Flying Saucers -type B movies to more recent big budget efforts like Independence Day . You'd think such a simple concept would be pretty straight-forward and easy to get right. Not so. Unfortunately Battle: LA, like so many similar films before it, fails to deliver. Instead we are given a kind of B-side cliched war flick with rubbish District 9 -style aliens thrown in. Earlier this year we had the awful Skyline in the same vein and although Battle: LA isn't qute as dire, it's still pretty poor all around. It's like the film contains all the shittest cliches and flaws which made Independence Day so cheesy but minus Jeff Goldblum, Randy Quaid and ANY sense of fun whatsoever. What's left? Not very much alas. Early on we're introduced to the film's main characters: a bunch of Marines, who are about as likeable and interesting as the plastic chair I'm c