Battleship

Battleship

(Peter Berg, 2012)

Rating: 3/5

Reviewed by Dave Lancaster

Summary: An easy watch with energetic characters, 'Battleship' is epic entertainment but it lingers in memory about as long as an average session of the boardgame did.
 

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'Battleship' really isn't as naff as you'd think it would be. It starts very strongly, developing a lovable rogue lead character in Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch). This is a manchild who breaks into a convenience store to get a girl (Brooklyn Decker) he's eyed up something to eat, getting himself arrested in the process.

A few months down the line, he's followed in his brother's (Alexander Skarsgard) footsteps and joined the Navy to get his act together. It helps also that the girl's father is Admiral Shane (Liam Neeson), a hard-edged military man who naturally doesn't approve. Yes, it's all a cliche but it seldom drags. The pretty cast can also act which always helps to smooth things along and films like this are an exercise in construction. They need to be an easy watch.   

Admirably, it takes a good 40 minutes before the aliens arive in Peter Berg's massive-budget studio picture. It then takes considerably more minutes before the film requires its viewers to turn their brains on again as the navy takes on the evil visitors. 'Battleship' is the kind of film that ends with victorious Americans saving the world and flashing a thumbs up (in this case, two characters flash the cheesy signal before the credits roll).   

You know what you're paying for here and for what it is, it works. Still, you can't help feeling that this really didn't need to be adaptated from a boardgame just to cash in on a brand name. It's a bit like saying 'The Cincinnati Kid' is a spin-off from poker.

Check out premiere stills and the theatrical trailer for 'Battleship' HERE at Cinemas Online.

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