Recently I read an interview with Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg at Kid in the Front Row. They are the ones who wrote the Harold and Kumar movies and were also responsible for American Reunion. In that interview Jon Hurwitz said about review of movies: “reviews bring the reviewers own perspective before they walk into a movie” and I think that is often the case with some of the big action blockbusters that come out each year. Most of them seem to get trashed in reviews and I always wonder what the expectations were when going in to see it. When I go in to see them I usually expect big set pieces, lots of explosions, paper-thin characterisation and just a fun time. It’s the reason I’ve enjoyed movies like Prince of Persia, Battle L.A. and even the Transformer movies. So going into Battleship I had the same expectations. Does it deliver?
To answer my question, yes it does. Hasbro thought it would be a good idea to turn the Battleship board game into a movie. That’s the idea on paper at least, because I can’t remember any aliens being in the game when I played it as a kid. Does that matter though? The game didn’t have any story, just you trying to win and that concept has just been blown up to a bigger scale with the human race wanting to win by defeating the aliens. It’s a story that has been told a thousand times, so it won’t be any surprise who will win in the end.
The story is about the ships of several countries coming together to practise naval battle, which gets interrupted when they run into some unknown object. Now I could tell you who stars in the movie, but it really doesn’t matter much. Since I’ve recently seen John Carter and the remake of Straw Dogs I saw Carter and the leader of a bunch of hillbillies playing two brothers wanting to prove themselves. Once the aliens start attacking though it doesn’t matter anymore as you just want to see battles, some funny moments and them finding a way to outwit their enemy.
And that’s exactly what Battleship offers. It’s an easily digestible snack, where you just switch off and enjoy the rollercoaster ride. It’s what I expected and exactly what I got.
Score: 7
I haven’t seen this movie, but I liked Prince of Persia and Transformers too (haven’t seen Battle LA)…sounds like I’ll like this Battleship movie…
Then I’m sure you’ll also enjoy this one!
Wanted to catch this at the cinema, but it fell through the cracks. I’ll catch it when it’s out for rental. Big, dumb, brainless fun.
But does anyone actually say, “You sank my battleship!”?
It is exactly that, big, dumb, brainless fun.
Hmmm, I don’t think they actually say that, but I might have missed it 🙂
I found the first Transformers decent, but i found the 2 sequels baaaaad. Anyways, i will probably catch this on dvd. I really wish SKarsgard would star in something else besides this, as i think he is a talented actor
I think it would be a nice rental. I saw Skarsgard in Strawdogs and although the movie might not be a very good one, I do think he had a great performance in that.
Yep definitely going to wait for the rental.
Not a bad idea 🙂
I know that this promises ‘popcorn entertainment’ but I still can’t muster up any interest to see this even as a rental.
Don’t worry Ruth, I won’t force you to go out and watch it! 😉
Surprised at the decent reviews for this one. I might end up renting this after all.
If you don’t like it, you can always let me know that I was wrong 😉
Well, you know what you like, that’s always a good quality in a film reviewer. I probably won’t like this one much, heck I can’t even be bothered to try and give this one a go, but a good review nonetheless.
Yes, that makes it clear. If you have the same taste as I do (I know Scott from FrontRoomCinema has (mostly) for example) then you know you’ll enjoy it.
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