Today’s quick review: Battleship. Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch), a hotheaded slacker, follows his brother Stone (Alexander Skarsgard) into the Navy, where his mistakes earn him the ire of Admiral Shane (Liam Neeson) and the affection of Shane’s daughter Sam (Brooklyn Decker). But Alex’s command abilities are put to the test when alien invaders touch down off the coast of Hawaii and cut off all communication with the outside world.
Battleship is a sci-fi action movie loosely based on the board game of the same name. Cut off from their fleet, three destroyers practicing combat maneuvers are left to fend for themselves against four technologically advanced alien ships. Battleship aims for a very particular target, trying to recreate the rules of the board game within sci-fi framework. The movie attains mixed results, offering popcorn action but not a lot to set it apart.
Battleship’s two main pillars are Alex’s journey from slacker to hero and the mechanics of the alien ships. Alex is a swing and a miss. He’s too impulsive to invest in, and his relationship with Sam is too shallow to humanize him much. The aliens fare better, but the movie has to bend over backwards to set them up. Nearly the entire middle of the movie is spent methodically revealing information about their technology.
Unfortunately, all of this effort leads to a mixed payoff. The rules the aliens operate by lead to some interesting situations, with a much heavier emphasis on naval warfare than other invasion movies. But there are enough clunky moments that the gimmick never quite clicks. The same goes for a lot of the moment-to-moment action: flashes of interesting ideas without a lot to tie them together or give the movie its own identity.
The end result is a fun movie with a couple of good moments, but one that fails to live up to the standards of its genre. Give Battleship a shot when you are in the mood for destructive action with a couple of interesting gimmicks. Steer clear if you are hoping for memorable writing or expertly handled tension.
For a futuristic sci-fi action movie about a reckless officer forced to grow up, try Star Trek. For a sci-fi action movie in the same vein that has more personality, try any of the Transformers movies. For a goofier, more experimental sci-fi adaptation of classic games, try Pixels. For an alien invasion with more character, try Independence Day.
[5.8 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1440129/). I give it a 6.0 to 6.5 for enjoyable action without much weight behind it.