BATTLESHIP Review
By:RAMA
So what did RAMA think of BATTLESHIP? Matt's review to come soon.
Congratulations, director Peter Berg, you are now the new Michael Bay, and that’s not a compliment. Just as I suspected.. the experience is like watching Battle: Los Angeles meets Transformers meets full blown advertisement for the U.S. Navy. In the words of that weatherman from the comedy Anchorman.. “Loud Noises!”..
Peter Berg (Hancock) produces and directs Battleship, an epic-scaled action-adventure that unfolds across the seas, in the skies and over land as our planet fights for survival against a superior force. Inspired by Hasbro’s classic naval combat game, Battleship stars Taylor Kitsch as Lt. Alex Hopper, a Naval officer assigned to the USS John Paul Jones; Brooklyn Decker as Sam Shane, a physical therapist and Hopper’s fiancée; Alexander Skarsgård as Hopper’s older brother, Stone, Commanding Officer of the USS Sampson; Rihanna as Petty Officer Raikes, Hopper’s crewmate and a weapons specialist on the USS John Paul Jones; and international superstar Liam Neeson as Hopper and Stone’s superior (and Sam’s father), Admiral Shane.
Berg’s intention to honor the navy is admirable but if the navy was a movie audience, he’d probably shake his head in shame over what he’d just watched.
There are so many ridiculous and inconsistent moments in this film, they’re going to have to stand in line.
Once again, as I’ve said many times before, Taylor Kitsch is not ready to be the next movie star and the fact that Hollywood keeps throwing him in blockbusters like John Carter and Battleship, surrounding the poor guy with giant spectacle, would backfire.
I was a huge fan of Berg’s The Kingdom and Friday Night Lights, and didn’t think Hancock was all that bad but Berg seems to ignore all his directing skills just for the sake of CG thrills, explosives, action sequences that are neither smartly written, nor smartly executed.
People asked how much of the board game is incorporated into this film, will the characters get to say lines like “you sunk my battleship”, it may not quite go there but there’s a scene in which the film makes it appear like the characters are basically playing Battleship game, but that scene comes off cheesy and trying too hard, interesting effort but a bit of a stretch.
Some commendable points about BATTLESHIP, and they’re mostly due to personal reasons of mine, the inclusion of Soccer, the frequent use of AC/DC music, Hamish Linklater as the nerd comic relief and the fact that the film would probably encourage people to know more about the different kinds of ships out there: destroyer, carrier, etc.
Other than that, it’s sad that Liam Neeson’s role has been diminished to something that’s even less significant than supporting, the runtime is too long for its own good, and for a while, Brooklyn Decker’s storyline with the metal leg veteran badass, serves almost no purpose until it shows some signs of making sense but even then it still drags and it feels like it goes around in circles.
BATTLESHIP would probably get the vote from Michael Bay for the best picture of the year and once again,.. that’s not a compliment.
GRADE: 1 out of 5
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