'Battle: Los Angeles' Gets a Teaser Trailer

Sony Pictures has finally released a teaser trailer for their upcoming sci-fi/action film Battle: Los Angeles.  The film was directed by Jonathan Liebesman and was pitched as Black Hawk Down meets Independence Day.

Intriguing, right?  And on top of that, the footage screened at last summer's Comic-Con left audiences pleasantly surprised.  Well now after viewing this trailer I can confidently say... I'm not sold anymore.

While I think the way the trailer is cut is pretty cool (especially the music choice), I've got two pretty big issues with the trailer.  First, while it was obvious the filmmakers tried to hide as much of the aliens as possible, they still showed too much.  We got glimpses of the aliens themselves, their crafts, and what even looked like their eggs.  This is supposed to be a teaser trailer.  Less is more (see: Cloverfield teaser trailer).

That being said, showing too much in a teaser trailer COULD be a good thing.  That is if what you're showing is good.  Which brings me to my second issue, the footage doesn't look that great.  With the filmmakers throwing around the name Black Hawk Down I was expecting more.  Instead I got what could be confused as another trailer for Skyline (which is NOT a good thing).

Now I'm not writing this film off completely because what I heard coming out of Comic-Con was pretty solid, especially that of a very tense opening sequence (which could have made for a pretty damn good teaser).  But for now I'm left skeptical.  Guess I'll just have to watch Gareth Edwards' incredible Monsters again...

Battle: Los Angeles Official Plot Synopsis:

When unknown forces suddenly and mercilessly attack the City of Angels out of nowhere, it’s up to a local Marine staff sergeant (Aaron Eckhart) and a new platoon of unseasoned soldiers to meet the threat. As the invasion hits the streets of LA, these Marines become our first and last line of defense in an intense battle against an enemy unlike any they’ve ever encountered before.

Comments

[Patrick Fancher]

It looks rad to me, or at least they made a decent teaser trailer. I hopes it's more District 9 than Independence Day though.

[MM]

I don't know what trailer you saw Mike, but in my opinion it looks awesome!

[Rick]

Looks way better than Skyline...

[Lillian James]

I think the trailer was very well done. It actually kind of makes me want to see it, but reading the synopsis makes me think it's gonna suck. My point: I disagree with your conclusion about the trailer. It's pretty good.

[Brix]

Thought this was the new trailer for Super 8 when i first saw it before Skyline. This will be better than Skyline for sure, but thats not really saying much. Looks great!

[Jake P]

I hope it is an equal mix Dist 9 and Independence Day. Looks like a fun movie. But I agree that less is more in trailers. If the goal was to just make a stand alone trailer sized movie... awsome, good job. If the goal was to get people super excited about the opening day and skip school and work to be the first to see it, bad job. Now its just a movie Id like to see at some point. Gotta have some mystery. Just like sexy women. We toss naked chicks money, sure. But we throw MORE money at chicks to get them to take it off.