At the Movies with Fatwayne

This epic battle against alien invaders intent on wiping out the human race takes place on August 11, 2011. Hey, wait just a second! Didn’t we (humans) fight another battle about the same time of the year but in 1996? Yes we did and it happened  on July 4th or Independence Day. That’s darn close to being more than a coincidence and this movie was darn close to being a copy of its predecessor. Thankfully it did some modernizing which worked out well but you just could not help but notice the similarities between the two, especially the ending.

We  have an invading force that commences a world wide attack against the Earth for the sole purpose of raiding our resources, namely our water which covers 70% of our planet’s surface. The computer generated aliens are tough characters and they seem to have a military with a chain of command just like we do (go figure). They have a more advanced system of weapons as you might expect. As a matter of fact, they looked like Storm Troopers only with stainless steel suits. They even shot laser like bullets just like the Stormies did. They have no interest in us other than to eradicate us so they can have the entire planet for themselves. How’s that for being selfish?

From what I have already alluded to you might get the impression that I hated this film. Quite the contrary, I thought that the effects were terrific and that the character development (although trite at times) was very good. The pace throughout left one breathless. The story was told mainly from the viewpoint of a squad of Marines whose job it is to take on the ETs and save the world. The main character is the aging USMC Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart). This poor grunt is physically feeling his age and has put in for his retirement papers. Unfortunately for him the tin foil crowd decided to invade us and we need every man we can muster to launch our counter attack. It is too bad for the aliens that they have to fight one of America’s bravest and finest. Nantz along with his platoon and some folks he picks up along the way are a force best not toyed with. As you might suspect, not all of our stout warriors will make it to the end but they all give it their best.

Heroism and ingenuity are two of the mainstays that will lead us to our eventual fate. Do you think we can survive this massive and unrelenting invasion? I sure hope so because August 11th is just around the corner!

Rated  -  PG13  -

Fatwayne’s Rating

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