MOVIE REVIEW: Battleship

Movie review for the film "Battleship" starring Taylor Kitsch, Rihanna and Liam Neeson courtesy of Ayala Malls.

Okay before going to the gist let me just thank the guys from Ayala Cinema for the special screening. I totally loved the seats they have in Greenbelt 3 as they were very comfortable.

GIST: The movie is great and looks clean. Taylor Kitsch also does a mean stoner and Rihanna looked so bad-ass in that scene where she was clutching that machine gun in the raft. Liam Neeson had a few good moments but was really absent throughout most of the story. The execution of the film was nice but it needed a few tweaks. Also as much as I liked the design for the "alien invaders" I couldn't help but think that the developers were playing too much "Halo".

If you're a fan of the board game or the game boy version, you will surely enjoy this. Plus there's some morality bits in the movie. 




GOOD:

As I've mentioned above, there are a lot of good bits in the movie. From the appearance of Tadanobu Asano who also played Hogun of the Warriors Three in "Thor". There were also a lot of great moments for each character. Taylor Kitsch (John Carter) wasn't as cool as the slick Gambit but as Alex Hopper, he showed that he can actually be a captain and still look reckless and cool.

While its pretty hard to believe that a bunch of aliens with sweet tech would just drop their guard if they feel that there is no direct threat, its still good because it makes for a good visual battle once the protagonists get back on their feet.

I also have to commend the production team for picking out AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" as the song used was pretty cool. At the same time seeing the WWII vets working together with these Hollywood stars is also something.

The scene that really stood out for me was the scene wherein the "whales" were hunting down the last ship which was captained by Hopper. THIS.WAS.THE.BATTLESHIP.THAT.I.KNEW. Yes, if you've played the game in the past you would know that this was how the game works and being able to integrate the basic play mechanics of the boardgame into the movie was pretty sweet.

Adding Rihanna in the cast was also a solid idea not just because she looks smoking hot as a navy girl but because of her visual appeal. Boy, that girl can totally make the screen smolder never mind if she had very little to do in the film. In my opinion, it would have been cooler if they made Rihanna the leading lady instead of Brooklyn Decker's Samantha.



The alien invaders aren't half bad either. Seeing that they are bipedal humanoid-esque with a penchant for wearing Halo's Spartan costumes, the weaponry that they use looked really cool.  Speaking of weaponry there's a tinge of Transformers in this movie so if you were a fan of the Michael Bay-verse TF films then this movie is definitely for you.



BAD:

The finale was kinda exciting. I mean kinda because while its already epic, if felt like it could have been better. Don't take it the wrong way as the movie is still chockful of great moments with a dab of suspense mixed in it.

Liam Neeson (Wrath of the Titans) who plays the role of Admiral Shane is kind of dumbed down. The character he portrays had so much potential in the movie but instead of playing the strength of having Neeson kick ass in a naval warship, we only get to see him in a few scenes during the opening scenes and a couple of scenes towards the end. Terrible waste of star power if you ask me.

Samantha Shane played by Brooklyn Decker is also a character that was fitted for a kick-ass role but wasn't really effective. The girlfriend/ fiancee of Hopper, she gets her fair share of action as she gets involved in a bid to foil the nefarious aliens' schemes of calling for support back home. She looks pretty cute in a bikini though.



Toldja!

OVERALL:

Overall methinks that Battleship is a great movie that mashes sci-fi with action elements. Military geeks and fanboys would love to see the "Mighty Mo" in action. Gaming geeks would love be pleasantly surprised to find elements of the boardgame placed in the movie (no matter how mind boggling it may seem). While movie geeks would love the movie either for Kitsch or for Rihanna and Decker.

I for one enjoyed the film. It's glorious in 3D but works just as great in 2D.