Battleship |
  • USA • 2012 • 131m •    • Directed by: Peter Berg. • Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgård, Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker, Tadanobu Asano, Hamish Linklater, Liam Neeson, Peter MacNicol, John Tui, Jesse Plemons, Gregory D. Gadson, Jerry Ferrara, Adam Godley. • Music by: Steve Jablonsky.      A naval war ship encounters an alien armada and faces the biggest threat mankind has ever faced. If they lose, the world could face a major extinction event and an alien invasion. Will humans win this alien war, what are the aliens doing here, and what do they want?
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Review:
The plot of this movie is like any Science Fiction Naval movie a group of aliens have arrived on our planet and are plotting to do something. Standing in the way of their plans is Lieutenant Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch) a young navy officer who joined the navy at the insistence of his brother Stone (Alexander Skarsgård) after his lazy attitude annoys Stone to the breaking point. However, Alex's rogue nature still remains to die as he tests the patience of Admiral Shane (Liam Neeson) the father of Alex's love interest Samantha (Brooklyn Decker). Can he get his act together to save the world, or will his insolence cause more harm than good?
I know the plot has been seen over and over again, but there is only so much leeway you can get from a board game. However, the story wasn't as bad as many people thought it would be. Although predictable for the most part, Battleship had some entertaining aspects that kept me into the film. For one thing the graphics for the movie were gorgeous. If there is one thing the Transformers studio can do right, it's make robots and aliens come to life. Each ship or shock trooper was incredibly detailed and blended into the movie to make things as real as they could be. The only challenges to this were the fight scenes, which were so jam-packed with explosions and fires you would think Michael Bay was still directing. As for the action, well it was alright, nothing really exciting or fast paced. Instead it was more of a strategic battle that was a good representation of navy action. To my disappointment, the aliens' attacks were actually pretty limited, though effective, which made the battles a little stale at times.
Was that all this movie was though? Was it really just a movie about large boats firing at space ships? For the most part yes, but there were a couple of side stories that were there to allow for a break from the shooting. One story involved developing Alex's character, while the other centered on Sam and a retired naval officer named Mick (Gregory D. Gadson). Throughout all the stories though, the acting was okay. Kitsch pretty much plays that sad mopey role he made famous in Friday Night lights, while Rihanna to my surprise took on her role pretty well, though there wasn't much character development on her part. Liam Neeson fans will be a little disappointed to hear that he doesn't show up much in this film. His occasional appearances are usually short, and he still plays his typical role. The rest of the acting is fine as well, but there are no star stealing performances to get excited about.
However, there are some other things in this movie that will appeal to a certain audience. This movie is definitely an homage to American veterans and is sure to stimulate some pride. Fans of Brooklyn Decker will enjoy watching her as not only is she beautiful, but also actually plays a new role that is new for her instead of just being a ditsy blonde. I can safely say that she was probably my favorite character, next to the Japanese captain. The soundtrack as well is very fitting for the various scenes, as the orchestra work helps add more edge to the movie, while still stimulating some American pride. There are some weaknesses though which were a little confusing or annoying for me. For one thing there are a few scenes in the movie that seemed either pointless or hinted at something else. Unfortunately, these scenes remained unanswered, which annoys me a little bit. As you probably expected, the dialog is also a little cheesy and shallow, mainly involving the word fire more than anything else. There was also really no comedy relief in the movie, only at the beginning really, which is okay for this kind of movie, but still would have been nice to see. Dare I say it, but the action was also a little stale at points too, and there is only so many times I can see the same cannons fire over and over again.
Despite what some critics have been giving this movie, I don't think this movie is horrible. Again the strategic warfare seems accurate and is somewhat exciting, and the graphics are still outstanding. However, the shallow and somewhat confusing story, the stale canon firing, and the predictability of the story really make this movie monotone and mediocre. Military men will again enjoy and have respect for the movie, but the casual audience member may have a hard time being entertained. Though if you were like most of the audience members in the theater today, you'll find entertainment in watching either Kitsch or Decker, as their looks are eye candy for all. My scores for this movie are below.
ActionSci FiThriller: 7.0 Movie Overall: 6.5
I recommend you wait for Netflix on this one, but the action scenes are definitely worthy of the cinema magic. If you decide to go though, take a date or a group of friends, this movie is definitely worth a guy's night out. So check back soon for my review on What To Expect When You're Expecting and as always continue to enjoy the movies.
Review by rgkarim from the Internet Movie Database.
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Apr 2 2017, 13:02
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