Battleship - Movie Review

Battleship - Movie Review
Director: Peter Berg
Writers: Erich Hoeber & Jon Hoeber
Stars: Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgard, Brooklyn Decker, Liam Neeson,
Rihanna

Battleship (the game) is a beloved part of my childhood. I treasure memories of playing it “old school”- on graph paper-with my dad, before the Hasbro board game existed.

I was looking forward to the movie version of the game, but honestly, I wasn’t expecting Shakespeare. It’s a board game, and one that often relies heavily on luck.

Often, the trailers shown before the film give a solid idea of the audience the film distributor expects in the theater. From the mixed bag of previews, they had no idea who was going to turn up. They ran the gambit from family drama (People Like Us) to adventure (The Bourne Legacy) to 1970s rock musical (Rock of Ages) to adventure with a fantasy edge, aimed at a younger audience-probably their closest match (The Amazing Spider-Man, Snow White and the Huntsman, G.I. Joe: Retaliation).

Given the parameters, it’s a heck of a lot of fun. They worked in a plot- thin in places, but it’s there. They get past the weak points by keeping the action moving, fantastic special effects, and a lot of strong performances. Looking back on the movie, I can’t think of much in the way of unnecessary scenes - every scene either tells us something important about one of the characters or moves forward the action. Or something blows up. Spectactularly. There’s a lot of that.

The film starts with introducing the concept of the “Goldilocks” planet-a planet that is not too far and not too close to their sun, but is “just right, ” suggesting that life similar to ours could develop on them. Such a planet has been located, and the Beacon Project has been set up to send a message, attempting communication with the planet.

Later, and how much later is almost too subtle, we’re dropped into the beginning of the RIMPAC war games, setting up fourteen navies from different countries floating around the Pacific. There’s tension between some of the groups, without actually being at war.

The weakest part of the film is the actual science in the plot. How long it would take a message to get to the Goldilocks planet, and for the aliens to travel from there to earth seemed unrealistically portrayed, and could have been easily corrected.

The almost - transformerlike alien ships were amazing, and their weaponry was impressive enough to make them seem unbeatable. And they don’t play by the same rules that we do, clearly warnings and shots across the bow did not evolve to evoke the same response they do on earth. The explosions and overall level of destruction was also well done.

Stand out performance of the film was Gregory D. Gadson, who plays a retired army veteran who has lost both his legs and is trying to figure out what to do next. He ends up getting up close and personal with one of the alien invaders. He also gets one of the best lines of the film, telling one of the other characters: “You’re going to acquire that courage, or I’m going to break my steel leg off in your a**.”

Alexander Skarsgard also does an outstanding job, both as commander of a destroyer, and as Taylor Kitsch’s older brother, trying to straighten him out. Kitsch is billed as the star of the film, and is the weakest link there, but he is carried by the people he usually shares the screen with. The junior crewman who look up to him on the John Paul Jones, led by Rihanna and John Tui, are all very good, especially in an ensemble situation. Liam Neeson is outstanding with what he has to work with, but he is actually in a fairly minor role.

All-in-all I enjoyed it. But don’t go if you want philosophy with your popcorn, or deep drama or a science lesson. Battleship is none of those. It’s a nicely packaged shoot ‘em up with pretty scenery out on the Pacific, with good-sized doses of defiance of authority and destruction of property.

Elektra Hammond
Buzzy Mag Editor & Reviewer