Movie Review: Battleship

A scene from 'Battleship'. Courtesy Universal Pictures.

Whoever thought it was a good idea to take the classic board game Battleship and turn it into an alien invasion movie is out of their mind. It makes no sense unless the aliens are controlling the human’s ships and playing their own game from another planet, which they are not (but that would have been really cool). Now forget that this is based on a board game that has absolutely nothing to do with the movie and it’s actually a pretty decent invasion flick that delivers a lot of bang and is quite a wild ride if you want it to be.

During an international naval exercise off the coast of Hawaii five alien spacecrafts enter Earth’s atmosphere. One goes off track and takes out Hong Kong, while the other four land in the Pacific Ocean among the naval ships partaking in the exercise. One thing leads to another and ships start getting attacked by the aliens and things starting blowing up all over the place. Will the world be saved or will the aliens win? Who cares! Things are blowing up and it looks cool.

As far as the cast goes they are all pretty useless. Taylor Kitsch was much better in John Carter. Liam Neeson is completely wasted and disappears for half the film for no reason. Alexander Skarsgård was given the worst dialogue and looked like a fool. The only person that made an impact was the almost unrecognizable Rihanna, who does a decent job in her small role.

This is not an actor’s movie though and is all about the effects. And the effects are absolutely stunning. The aliens have a unique look to them and feel very real and not just CGI. When the ships are at battle or when the aliens are going haywire destroying everything, it looks so good that it’s almost addictive to watch. What’s more impressive is the sound, which packs the biggest sensational punch it’s so layered and loud.

Director Peter Berg does action movies well and Battleship is right up there with Hancock and The Kingdom when it comes to delivering on expectations. He makes sure to never let the material take itself seriously and pokes fun at it often. It works, and as long as you want it to be exciting and silly, you’ll enjoy the 2-hour brain massage at the end of the week.

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