Battleship Misses the Target

What do you get when you take a classic board game,  a cast of mostly B-list actors, a group of unknown aliens with advanced technology, and a whole lot of explosions? Answer: a fun summer action movie that provides some exciting and intense moments, but will likely become just another addition to a long list of decent yet forgettable science fiction action films (that's right, Independence Day isn't nearly as good as you convinced yourself it was nearly 20 years ago).

Let me start by saying Battleship was better than I expected. The main plot of the story is no surprise (If you turn on the television, drink a Coke Zero, go to Subway or just about anywhere else you can't miss the site of a giant alien spaceship hovering over a Navy destroyer). However, unlike many poor science fiction movies, Battleship takes the first 30 minutes to introduce and develop the main characters, set up major plot points, such as why the aliens are coming to Earth in the first place, and explain why it appears the naval fleets of the entire world happen to be in the Pacific Ocean at the same time. The movie also provides a few exciting moments that have the audience cheering despite the fact you can see nearly every "surprise" coming from a nautical mile away. Battleship should also get credit for incorporating some true heroes in the form of World War II veterans and an inspiring performance by a real-life double amputee, former Lt. Colonel Gadsen, who lost his legs to a roadside bomb in Iraq. Unfortunately, these few bright spots are only enough to make this movie watchable, but not great.

Taking some time at the beginning to provide context and characters development so viewers understand what is going on and actually care what happens to the main characters helps make this movie more than just an explosion fest; however all attempts to develop the characters or explain key plot points explode right along with the first ship. It is clear from that point forward the director and writers opted for a typical science fiction film that will see a lot of explosions and struggle, but inevitably leads to the "righteous humans" dominating a superior alien force despite being hilariously outgunned. Trust me, I am not sharing spoilers or "ruining" the ending of the movie. This fact is probably the biggest reason that Battleship is more of a disappointment than a great movie. The movie is essentially like any other movie you can see on the SyFy channel any day of the week, except with a bigger budget, larger explosions and slightly better acting. The dialogue throughout the movie is poor and the acting is not much better. In fact, in certain scenes the supporting cast even manage to make Rihanna look like a pretty good actor. The computer-generated imagery  (CGI) is nearly identical to the style and images from recent Transformers movies and just like those movies it sacrifices a realistic aesthetic (that can really intensify a movie…just watch the trailers for Prometheus) for an ultra-shiny and bright aesthetic. The second hour of the movie is riddled with plot holes almost large enough to drive a battleship through (sorry I couldn't resist) then followed by weak attempts explain them or just ignore them by having something else explode. In addition, an entire subplot is developed on land and though it has moments of action it is mostly a waste of time.  I realize the movie is called Battleship but there was an opportunity to do more with the land scenes and in the end it seemed more like an afterthought than an integral part of the movie.

Final Cut - If you want to see a fun action movie that requires very little thinking and packs in a lot of explosions then Battleship is probably for you. Don't walk in looking for much more than some simple popcorn fun and you won't be disappointed. However, this is a movie you can wait to see at home. I recommend putting it in your Netflix queue and enjoy an evening of dumb fun when it comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray in a few months.

Grade: C+

Did you see Battleship? What is your opinion? Make sure to share your comments with other Patch readers.