Aliens Attack!

I just watched Battle: Los Angeles, and even with low expectations I was disappointed. The movie was almost as bad as Battleship. Why can't Hollywood do aliens right anymore? How did we go from Independence Day to Battleship: Los Angeles (not a typo). The last few have been pretty terrible.

Recent Alien Attack Movies:

Best:

District 9

So maybe District 9 doesn't actually count as an Alien "attack" movie, but it's definitely the best and most original and intelligent alien movie to come along in recent years.

Transformers

In general, movies probably shouldn't be based off of Hasbro toys, but the first Transformers movie pulls it of. The actual transforming effects were done amazingly on film. From the first scene when the chopper transforms into a badass decepticon, with all the parts moving around and weapons popping out, it's a visual feast. The plot and dialogue of the movie is silly, but likable underdog Shia Labeouf holds (Shia!) the movie together with his fun antics.

Monsters vs. Aliens

Another super-fun movie, Monsters vs. Aliens harkens back to classic sci-fi b-movies (Attack of the 50-foot Woman, Creature from the black lagoon, the blob, godzilla) and puts them in an incredibly enjoyable animated kids movie.

Super 8

Again, not really an Alien attack movie, but it's a good one. The actual alien part is pretty weak, (Is he good, is he bad? Does he eat people?) but the amazing performances from the kids seals this movie in the good pile. A great throwback to Spielberg's golden age.

War of the Worlds

And speaking of Spielberg, this is not one of his best movies, but it still makes the top 5 for alien movies for the last few years. This movie does have it's faults, but it's definitely exciting and suspenseful.

Worst:

Battleship

Who would have guessed that making a film about a plotless board game would have been a bad idea? O wait, everybody did. This movie was bad idea in the first place, and then they throw in transformer-like aliens in it for no reason. This movie sunk (and yes the movie was even worse than that pun).

Battle: Los Angeles

Being and LA native, I thought this might be fun to watch to at least identify the shooting locations, but most the time the clueless marine guys are wandering through an annoying fog. What really pissed me off about this movie, was when they finally did show what the aliens looked like (which I think is a moment of suspense in any alien movie) they are extremely boring and they never give us any close up shots. The great thing about aliens is that you can make them look like anything you want. Their aliens were always out of focus and undefined in a very boring way. They kind of looked like the aliens from Battleship or Cowboys and Aliens. Just boring and nondescript.

Transformer sequels

So Michael Bay did a good job with the first transformers, and then decided to go bigger and more ridiculous. Film quality wise, the first movie wasn't that good but made up for it with good visuals, action and humor. They tried to up the ante in the sequels and never address any of the story or character problems that the original had and the sequels just become a jumbled mess. It's fun to look at for a while, but then it just gets too long.

The Day the Earth Stood Still (remake)

It's a bad and unnecessary remake. Nuff said.

Alien vs. Predator: Requim

With all due respect, if you're watching an Alien vs. Predator movie, you should know what you're getting to.

Just OK:

Cowboys vs. Aliens

People were excited about this movie, and then they weren't. Another case where the aliens were non-descript and boring. Also it had some plot problems. Over-all it's ok, you get what the title says but nothing more.

Monsters

This movie has some interesting social commentary and is exciting at parts. And considering it was done on a shoestring budget, the special effects are effective. An alien movie done on a indie movie budget.

Cloverfield

The marketing guys on this movie definitely earned their keep. The poster alone gets you curious. But even after you've seen it, how the heck did the alien knock the head off the statue of liberty? One of the many unanswered questions in this creative but not totally satisfactory movie.

Skyline

Another alien movie done on the cheap but is definitely better than Battle: Los Angeles with pretty much the same exact plot. It's OK.

So there hasn't been an Independence Day for a while, but we'll see in the future. Aliens can be so much fun and creative and I'm always mad when Hollywood squanders an opportunity.