by Rashid Z. Muhammad
21. May 2012 00:16
2.5 out of 5
So I just got home from seeing Battleship and I wanted to jot down a few thoughts - "review" is probably an exaggeration - before I went to bed.
For me the film was mindless, but very watchable, summer movie fare. What disappointed me was how, after plenty of subtle cues (no really) early on that humans may have made contact with something much more complicated than the typical relentless alien swarm, the film dashes my raised hopes and devolves into the orgy of CGI and surround sound that I was expecting. Still, a number of loose ends and questionable edits make me feel that the movie I saw wasn't quite the movie that was written. I think some studio bigwig eventually realized the film was based on a kid's board game choosing to reign in the nuance - and expletives.
Regardless, there was lots to like about Battleship (minor spoilers):
- Lots of cool military hardware
- Photo-realistic CGI
- I love Earth-oriented Jingoism
- Balancing the military rah rah with the presence of disabled veterans
- Rounding out the casting with a very raucous group of senior veterans
- When the aliens shoot at the human ships, their peg-shaped artillery dig into the hulls before they detonate. Nice touch!
Building on that last point, the movie actually takes the Hasbro license seriously and manages to squeeze a very compelling sequence out of the Battleship game mechanics. While not the work of a Charlie Kaufman or Aaron Sorkin, the script was fun and clever at times.
Look, we know why we go to see movies like Battleship and I can't say it disappoints. It plays like a Micheal Bay film but more focused and reserved. Every penny of that $200 million budget is on display and, while that cash clearly didn't go into actor talent, the movie hits the mark.
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