It's a game of skill and honour, the stakes are raised and the planet is in peril... Lets play Battleship? Alex Hopper is pushed by his brother into a life of servitude to his country, though even the navy can't tame his brash and arrogant nature something his commanding officer Admiral Shane sees only too well. Unfortunately for Alex, not only is Admiral Shane in charge of his budding career but he also just so happens to be the unwilling giver of consent and father to his girlfriend Samantha. So after roughing around and causing a ruckus, being denied the hand of his love and threatened that his career may be swiftly sinking, Alex has to pull out all the stops in the the annual RIMPAC battle exercise to save his neck. While else where over the years good ol' NASA have been sending out a signal to attract intelligent life to pay humanity a visit, however the two events collide as the receivers of the signal land ships in the vicinity of the training exercise and enclose three dreadnoughts off from the rest of the world. Three alien invading ships and three dreadnaughts go head to head in a battle for the planet itself and Alex Hopper realizes his day is about to drag out as he's left responsible for the fate of the earth.
Taylor Kitsch is back in the boots of the lead as Alex Hopper and at least has more enthusiasm and energy to this role than he had back on John Carter, while he may not be the most enigmatic protagonist Kitsch delivers a brash hero up against the odds who you do find yourself routing for just because of the cheeky nature he throws in. Tadanobu Asono as Nagato the commanding officer of one of the three dreadnoughts brings a strong and rather whimsical character at times and thankfully he isn't as stand out and rash as Hopper on his ship or on film, in the end you feel Asono has earned the role of something deeper than this. Alexander Skarsgard offers a more professional and in many ways a more likable character in Stone Hopper (Yes... that is actually his name in the film) than the protagonist and unfairly seems to have less time in the spotlight than the rest of the cast but from his given time you can clearly see he deserves more and i ended up wishing they had made him the lead. Brooklyn Decker is the loving girl-pal to Alex, Samantha who has her own action turn in saving the world, like Kitsch she may not shine blindingly but she brings her own story to the piece and drums up her character, though you probably won't care about any continuation of the budding romance. Now i have to mention Rhianna. What did you expect? If you're sane you'll realize that this wasn't ever going to be the discovery of another acting sensation yet you'll still feel disappointed by this turn, doing a crazy impression of Michelle Rodriguez(in any film) mixed with an absurdly boisterous lass trying to be immature and one of the boys, Rhianna is sadly quite painful to watch at times. Last but not least, like he always does whenever Liam Neeson is on screen he shines while in this his presence is largely based in the background but when Admiral Shane does appear its the standard Neeson shine.
What can you really say about a film based solely on a board game? Lets be honest, if you've sat around playing Battleship and thought 'Wow, i hope i get to see a film about this one day' you probably had a field day when this was announced but if you didn't and instead thought 'Why?!' that's relatively the same feeling the film itself presents. Mixing a poor excuse of what i think was a story and as many CGI explosions as one editor can cram into a single film, Battleship punches you to the ground with action and silliness refusing to let up until the harrowing plot muddles to a finish. Much like its central character Battleship is loud, arrogant and doesn't give a damn what you think as long as you've payed the ticket fare and in the same vain as Transformers you may find yourself ashamedly actually enjoying the film at times. Although just because it's a relatively bad film doesn't mean you can't find some amusement in it, as I said if you've seen a Transformer film you can guess what kind of a battle you're in for when you sit down, IF you sit down that is. The film is odd in it's target audience and at times seems so basic you think it's actually a simplified kids film(i noticed it cuts away as a character prepares their profanities) while at the same time aiming at the late teens with the promise of a big ol' gun-tastic, explosion fanfare of a film. It isn't a good film and you probably shouldn't see it unless you know deep down you have that tingling curiosity that ashamedly drags people in droves to large explosive screens. Then again that's where the entertainment comes from and with that to offer it gives the choice to go to the cinema and just go brain dead for a few hours, just don't go expecting anything more than the usual mundane action filled flare of insanity that Hollywood pump out for easy cash.
4 / 10
FIN.
Taylor Kitsch is back in the boots of the lead as Alex Hopper and at least has more enthusiasm and energy to this role than he had back on John Carter, while he may not be the most enigmatic protagonist Kitsch delivers a brash hero up against the odds who you do find yourself routing for just because of the cheeky nature he throws in. Tadanobu Asono as Nagato the commanding officer of one of the three dreadnoughts brings a strong and rather whimsical character at times and thankfully he isn't as stand out and rash as Hopper on his ship or on film, in the end you feel Asono has earned the role of something deeper than this. Alexander Skarsgard offers a more professional and in many ways a more likable character in Stone Hopper (Yes... that is actually his name in the film) than the protagonist and unfairly seems to have less time in the spotlight than the rest of the cast but from his given time you can clearly see he deserves more and i ended up wishing they had made him the lead. Brooklyn Decker is the loving girl-pal to Alex, Samantha who has her own action turn in saving the world, like Kitsch she may not shine blindingly but she brings her own story to the piece and drums up her character, though you probably won't care about any continuation of the budding romance. Now i have to mention Rhianna. What did you expect? If you're sane you'll realize that this wasn't ever going to be the discovery of another acting sensation yet you'll still feel disappointed by this turn, doing a crazy impression of Michelle Rodriguez(in any film) mixed with an absurdly boisterous lass trying to be immature and one of the boys, Rhianna is sadly quite painful to watch at times. Last but not least, like he always does whenever Liam Neeson is on screen he shines while in this his presence is largely based in the background but when Admiral Shane does appear its the standard Neeson shine.
What can you really say about a film based solely on a board game? Lets be honest, if you've sat around playing Battleship and thought 'Wow, i hope i get to see a film about this one day' you probably had a field day when this was announced but if you didn't and instead thought 'Why?!' that's relatively the same feeling the film itself presents. Mixing a poor excuse of what i think was a story and as many CGI explosions as one editor can cram into a single film, Battleship punches you to the ground with action and silliness refusing to let up until the harrowing plot muddles to a finish. Much like its central character Battleship is loud, arrogant and doesn't give a damn what you think as long as you've payed the ticket fare and in the same vain as Transformers you may find yourself ashamedly actually enjoying the film at times. Although just because it's a relatively bad film doesn't mean you can't find some amusement in it, as I said if you've seen a Transformer film you can guess what kind of a battle you're in for when you sit down, IF you sit down that is. The film is odd in it's target audience and at times seems so basic you think it's actually a simplified kids film(i noticed it cuts away as a character prepares their profanities) while at the same time aiming at the late teens with the promise of a big ol' gun-tastic, explosion fanfare of a film. It isn't a good film and you probably shouldn't see it unless you know deep down you have that tingling curiosity that ashamedly drags people in droves to large explosive screens. Then again that's where the entertainment comes from and with that to offer it gives the choice to go to the cinema and just go brain dead for a few hours, just don't go expecting anything more than the usual mundane action filled flare of insanity that Hollywood pump out for easy cash.
4 / 10
FIN.
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