The oh-so-hotheaded Alex winds up getting in a fight with a fellow officer during an important training exercise. This is apparently the last straw; Admiral Shane informs Alex that when the ship returns to port, he'll likely be kicked out of the Navy. Alex is left searching for some way to prove his mettle; a way to show the powers that be how brave he is.
And then the aliens show up. From there, it goes much like you'd expect.
What we have here is the formula for your standard-model summer action blockbuster. You've got the troubled but good-hearted hero who has to prove himself. You've got the girlfriend and sidekicks (including one played by Rihanna) who are fiercely loyal to the hero. You've got the gruff authority figure who doesn't believe in the hero. You've got the rival who begrudgingly learns to respect the hero. You've got the seemingly unbeatable enemy presenting overwhelming odds against the hero's success.
And you've got explosions. Lots and lots of explosions.
Hollywood seems bound and determined to turn the bland semi-vacant Kitsch into an action star. He's a nice enough actor, but after a couple of uninspiring efforts in a row ('John Carter' was rough), it might be time to let that ship sail. The supporting cast is the definition of 'meh' Skarsgard's okay and Brooklyn Decker is fine if you don't ask her to do anything. Hamish Linklater (TV's 'The New Adventures of Old Christine') and Jesse Plemons ('Paul') have some fun moments.
Also: Rihanna is a terrible actress. I mean just awful.
The biggest question I was left with, however, was this: Just what did this movie have to do with the 'Battleship' board game? Other than the title and a couple of bits that seemed forced at best and hokey at worst, there was no real correlation. You could have put just about any generic sci-fi/action name on this project without changing a thing.
'Battleship' isn't all bad there's lots of Earth-on-alien battle action and a few laughs. In the end though, it's just too loud and too formulaic. Still, if you go in with appropriately low expectations the movie is based on a board game, after all there are worse ways to pass the time.
2 out of 5
