Movie Review: Battleship

Daniel "Pinto" Gunderson, the producer of the "Mike McFeely Show," reviews the movie Battleship, which opened during the weekend of May 19.

 

 

 

 

 This past weekend, I went to see the movie Battleship, starring Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker, Liam Neeson and Taylor Kitsch and was directed by Peter Berg. Berg has directed the movies Friday Night Lights and Hancock.

The movie is actually based off the board game by the same name and there is a scene in the movie similar to how you play the game. In general, however, the movie is nothing like the game itself.

It is realized by the scientists at NASA that there is a distant planet out there that has similar characteristics to Earth. (I.e. distance from sun, atmosphere, mass, etc…) NASA sends out a signal, hoping to make contact with the planet named “Planet G.”

The signal reaches the planet and like any alien race from a distant, unknown world, they decide to attack Earth. The aliens send in five ships and four land in the Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of Hawaii, the other destroying downtown Hong Kong.

Three naval ships, two U.S., one Japan, go to examine the objects and when they make contact with the aliens, they set up a force field. No one can get in, no one can get out.

This sets up the show down between those three ships and the alien ships. The character the movie focuses on is Lt. Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch), who struggles with his own personal demons, not just those from another world. As the battle rages, you see Hopper growing up before your eyes as he is forced into the role of leader.

Fun Fact: Taylor Kitsch is one of the main actors from Peter Berg’s television adaptation of his movie Friday Night Lights.

What I Liked:
This might come as a shocker, but it was the action of the movie. What worried me most about this movie going in, the over dramatized destruction and damage, actually proved to be the most enjoyable part of the movie. It is similar to the Transformers movie franchise in this way.

Right away, you are given the impression that the aliens are nearly indestructible as they thwart the attacks of the three ships caught within their force field. As the movie moves along, the humans figure out some of the weaknesses that the aliens have and exploit them to their advantage.

The bombs, the guns, the strategy and the battles are all entertaining to watch. These scenes help move the movie along, which runs just over two hours. I didn’t notice it was that long until I walked out of the theater and checked the time.

What I Didn’t Like:
I realize this is a completely unrealistic movie, but some elements of that still bothered me greatly. Bear in mind, if I’m criticizing some of the fakeness of a “never going to happen” type of movie, than you have to assume they were pretty cheesy.

The aliens are trying to take over a satellite station so they can make contact with their planet to send reinforcements. As they are trying to do this, three humans, Colonel Mick Canales (Gregory Gadson), Samantha Shane (Brooklyn Decker) and Cal Zapata (Harnish Linklater) decide to slow their progress down in order to buy the Navy some time so they could destroy the aliens.

As they are trying to slow down the progress of the aliens, Colonel Canales, a double amputee and Army combat veteran, comes face-to-face with one of the aliens. What proceeds would be best described as a fist fight, expect the aliens don’t really have fists. They have… I’m not really sure what to call them.

The fight includes the most absurd shot of the movie, when Colonel Canales punches the alien in the face and a slow motion shot shows teeth and saliva flying from the aliens’ mouth. Up until that point, I had accepted the fakeness of the movie, but that scene just pushed it too far.

GO = Go See It!
I went into this movie, after seeing the previews, thinking this is going to be Transformers in the water. I left the theater thinking that same thing, but still with a big smile on my face for how enjoyable it was.

Outside of the absurdity, this movie was a lot of fun to watch. It went fast, there is not a bunch of dialogue, which can make movies like this confusing and boring and the characters play their roles perfectly.

“Fun at a movie” is a saying I feel that I might rely heavily on for these types of movies, but it is the truth when it comes to this one. Berg also did a great job of picking some good looking actors for the roles, so even if you think their acting is not up to par, they are not that bad to look at.

Next up: MIB III

   

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