I’m sure most of you are anticipating a Top-five scary movies list. Unfortunately, horror movies aren’t my strong point, so I decided to do another edition of “Watch This, Not That.”

In honor of Halloween, I’ve decided to compare two movies that were so bad it was almost scary. I’ll be comparing “Battle Los Angeles” and “Sucker Punch.”

“Sucker Punch” stars Emily Browning and Vanessa Hudgens. It’s the story of a girl, known only as Baby Doll (Browning), who is forced into a mental institution by her abusive stepfather.

Once admitted, Baby Doll discovers a way to retreat into a fantasy world where she learns of a possible escape from the horrible situation she is in.

Baby Doll encounters every possible enemy imaginable: dragons, nazi zombies, large terracotta samurai warriors, robots and nasty, creepy mustached men.

Baby Doll and her band of four other inmates roam through many different alternate worlds and take on these easily killed enemies.

In the end, the story was boring, action was questionably weak and the movie was a letdown.

It’s directed by Zack Snyder, the director of the visionary films “300” and “Watchmen.” He will direct the new Superman flick, “Man of Steel,” and I hope he does a good job with that.

One could say I was sucker-punched when I saw this movie. Disappointment plays a major factor in my rating here.

“Battle Los Angeles” stars Aaron Eckhart and is the story of an alien invasion. These aliens have landed off the coast of many major cities around the world, but our movie covers the battlefield of Los Angeles.

Eckhart held his own for the majority of the movie, but one character is not enough to pull this one out of the dumps.

The special effects weren’t great and the aliens were boring.

Michelle Rodriguez was in this movie, and she played her normal role of either a police officer or military member.

I’m beginning to shy away from movies in which she makes an appearance.

“Battle: LA” was uninspiring. This storyline has been worn out…over and over again.

Look for “Battleship” if you love this genre and story. Aliens attack with overwhelming force, the military arrives, we fight the aliens, and after many back and forths between the two sides, we end up destroying the mother ship and win the battle.

I’ve just described the entire movie, so even if you were considering seeing it…don’t.

I was dying to see “Sucker Punch” since I first saw the trailer. Some of the fight scenes were pretty cool, so if you’re only looking for some decent action then I guess I could recommend this to you. If you’re looking for a solid all-around action flick with a good story, steer clear.

“Battle Los Angeles” was hard to watch. It’s the story of military stereotypes fighting alien stereotypes.

At the end of the day, I recommend you don’t watch either, however, this is Watch This, Not That. I recommend you watch Sucker Punch (6.0/10) and not Battle Los Angeles (5.0/10).

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Hayden Mace/For the Review
Hayden Mace can be reached at [email protected].