Does Taylor Kitsch have what it takes to headline a
feature film? That’s the question I asked myself after his last two films, John
Carter and Battleship, both bombed at the box office. I won’t talk about the
former here (you can read my review to find out more), but I will explore the
latter, which earned $25.5 million in its opening weekend, well below the
expected $35-$40 million. Despite failing to draw a big audience, Battleship
did inspire some fairly positive reviews. For that reason, I gave it
a shot.
I will admit that I am a fan of the Hasbro board game
Battleship, but I was a bit skeptical a full-length film could be constructed
around the game’s simplicity. How could they do it? The answer is simple:
aliens.
For those who don’t know, here is how IMDb.com describes Battleship’s premise: “A fleet of ships is forced to do battle with an armada
of unknown origins in order to discover and thwart their destructive goals.”
Now I happen to like alien movies and fancy a good navy
flick. Could a fusion of the two succeed? The recipe obviously didn’t resonate
with the masses, but I confess that the movie proved to be better than I
expected; in fact, I actually enjoyed it. It’s certainly not a future Oscar
winner, but it is a special effects flick reminiscent of Transformers,
Independence Day and Under Siege. Interestingly, the U.S.S. Missouri was the
ship featured in the latter film and it plays a prominent role in Battleship.
Like the naval game itself, the story in Battleship is
simple. Aliens land in the ocean off the coast of Hawaii, the navy responds and
battle ensues. The story itself couldn't carry the film on its own, but it is
strengthened by good special effects, engaging visuals and some surprisingly solid performances.
For instance, Kitsch put in a satisfying performance as
Lieutenant Alex Hopper, a irresponsible guy who is about to get kicked out of
the navy before a serious and deadly situation force him to change his ways.
Seeing his transformation from a self-indulgent flunky to a well-meaning hero
was believable and gratifying. In my opinion Kitsch gave one of his best performances,
one that has temporarily restored by faith that he can carry a film.
Another actor who put in a tremendous performance was Alexander Skarsgård, who
played Commander Stone Hopper. He was the opposite of his brother (Kitsch’s
character) in that he was responsible, put together well and had a promising
future. I last saw Skarsgård in Straw Dogs where he played a villain, and while
he did a fine job there, I prefer him as a hero. Skarsgård's time in Battleship
is cut short, but he did a stellar job with the scenes he was given.
The same can be said of Rihanna (making her feature film
debut), Brooklyn Decker, Tadanobu Asano and Gregory D. Gadson, all of whom had
major roles. Gadson, who is a real-life marine and lost both his legs in duty, does a
fine job interacting with Decker’s character. His acting may have been a little
weaker than that of his fellow cast mates, but he brought a sense of realism and
emotion to the film that reaches the audience.
While the performances were good as a whole, I was
disappoint with Liam Neeson’s character, Admiral Shane. As I’ve said many times
before, I like me some Neeson, but his role in Battleship was so minimal that
it was an extreme disappointment. His character got little screen time and
wasn’t essential to the storyline. He was an outsider, and he’s too good a
talent to be utilized in such a capacity.
Complimenting the actors were some pretty cool sequences.
For instance, I highly enjoyed the scenes that showed just what our battleships
and destroyers can do. It’s really awe inspiring to watch as they let loose and
demonstrate their full capabilities. In addition, I thought it was a nice touch for
the director, Peter Berg, to pay homage to the Battleship game. He did this in
two ways. The first was shaping the alien “missiles” like the pegs used in the
game to mark hits and misses. Sounds corny but they definitely made it work as those pegs packed quite
the punch; come to think of it, they made a few corny moments work.
The second way they paid homage was a clever, albeit far
stretched, way of tracking the enemy ships through tsunami buoys when their
radar was down. It was completed with a full grid marked with letters and numbers. A nice
nostalgic nod to its inspiration.
All in all I enjoyed Battleship. It was definitely better
than I expected and I walked out of the theater satisfied. If you’re looking
for an action-packed quasi-sci-fi film, I recommend you ignore all the box
office bomb talk and give it a try, I’m glad I did.
Buddies Forever Movie Club Rating: 70%
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