Unimaginative SF film with an interest in Macaulay

Rating: 6/10 (5 May 2013)

The production values are good but to me this seemed like an unimaginative version of good earthlings defeat bad alien.
And for some unexplained reason Thomas Babington Macaulay's book of poetry "Lays of Ancient Rome" had a part in the movie. They quote a stanza from it "Then out spake brave Horatius,
The Captain of the Gate:
"To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his gods," I suppose this is meant to represent Tom Cruise's character's struggle against alien oppression. I got a copy of this book from the library (1875 edition). This poem, Horatius, is pretty heavy stuff with numerous references to ancient Rome. What was the purpose of the movie makers in mentioning this poem? Do they want us to run out of the theater and go to the library to get a copy?
I was also disappointed with the role that Olga Kurylenko was given in the movie. It consisted mostly of staring agape at Tom Cruise. Too bad really; what a waste. She had a much better part in "Quantum of Solace" , the recent Bond film.