Movie Review – Battleship

What happens when Hollywood meets Hasbro? Battleship doesn’t pretend to be anything but a big budget, sci-fi action bonanza. I’d like to emphasize bonanza.
Lieutenant Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch) is a bad apple turned Navy officer. Brought on by a scientific initiative to contact a newly discovered “Earth-like” planet, an alien scouting mission crash lands on Earth and right in the middle of naval games in the Hawaiian islands. Trapped within an alien force field and seriously outgunned, a few destroyer ships are all that stand in the way of an invading alien race.
The plot is blah, but the action and effects are top notch. If there’s one thing I learned from Battlship, it’s that an AC/DC track instantly adds excitement and brings the audience back into the film. That instance happens towards the middle of the film, where it starts feeling choppy. I spent a few minutes trying to figure out how all of a sudden an alien was captured on the destroyer. Then later, wondering why the aliens had such a hard time finding the humans in the “real” game of Battleship that ensues. But then, AC/DC saves the day! The actual U.S.S. Missouri was used in the film, which of course is just awesome.
Battleship is not a bad movie, but I also can’t highly recommend it either. I’d prefer to squeak in a few more viewings of The Avengers. Once Avengers has worn out its welcome (but seriously, how could it?) then Battleship will suffice, until of course The Dark Knight Rises arrives in July.