There may be some inadvertent spoilers in this review, so beware! I went to see this movie with my girlfriend expecting an action movie with (based on the previews) really good special effects. After the first 5mins of the movie, it became apparent that Battleship was going to mix in some comedy as well. Both my girlfriend and I were both laughing a lot at the beginning of the movie, and it loosened our original perception of the movie. Now, we were just there to have a good time.
For the most part, I was impressed. A good amount of the negative reviews I have read seem to not even be about this movie. I read one that literally stated, "Why did we have to slaughter these aliens that were just trying to get home?" They were obviously not watching the same movie. These aliens were trying to use our satellites to bring more ships to earth to take over the planet! They were piggy-backing on our technology because their communications ship crashed at the beginning. They weren't some well to do aliens who accidentally crashed and were trying to get home! This was an invasion! Another review said there were too many side stories... There were literally two. The main story arc deals with the main character fighting the aliens, and then his girlfriend is helping an army vet who lost his legs and they get into some trouble. That's pretty much it.
The one big problem I had was the super cheesy part towards the end when all of the old veterans working on the Mighty Mo are posing all over the ship and Hopper gives them the mini speech about asking them to do more for their country. Plus, the idea of running a WWII era battleship with about 10 Navy Sailors and 10 60+ year old vets is a little... unbelievable. I'm not 100% on this, but the standard crew for a Missouri type battleship is over 2000. That was just way too corny for my taste, but it didn't take away too much from the over all movie.
All in all, it was a lot of fun. The movie had great special effects, the interplay between the actors was amusing, and at times, just plain funny. The story was okay, there are a few things that were kind of left hanging, but this isn't supposed to be some artsy, independent film. I disagree with the reviewer who says that "It's an action movie" isn't a good excuse. I say it is. If you want moving dialog, Oscar worthy acting, and a swath of top name actors... This probably isn't the movie for you. If you just want to have a good time, have some laughs, see some great special effects and walk away from a movie with a smile on your face, go see this movie.
For the most part, I was impressed. A good amount of the negative reviews I have read seem to not even be about this movie. I read one that literally stated, "Why did we have to slaughter these aliens that were just trying to get home?" They were obviously not watching the same movie. These aliens were trying to use our satellites to bring more ships to earth to take over the planet! They were piggy-backing on our technology because their communications ship crashed at the beginning. They weren't some well to do aliens who accidentally crashed and were trying to get home! This was an invasion! Another review said there were too many side stories... There were literally two. The main story arc deals with the main character fighting the aliens, and then his girlfriend is helping an army vet who lost his legs and they get into some trouble. That's pretty much it.
The one big problem I had was the super cheesy part towards the end when all of the old veterans working on the Mighty Mo are posing all over the ship and Hopper gives them the mini speech about asking them to do more for their country. Plus, the idea of running a WWII era battleship with about 10 Navy Sailors and 10 60+ year old vets is a little... unbelievable. I'm not 100% on this, but the standard crew for a Missouri type battleship is over 2000. That was just way too corny for my taste, but it didn't take away too much from the over all movie.
All in all, it was a lot of fun. The movie had great special effects, the interplay between the actors was amusing, and at times, just plain funny. The story was okay, there are a few things that were kind of left hanging, but this isn't supposed to be some artsy, independent film. I disagree with the reviewer who says that "It's an action movie" isn't a good excuse. I say it is. If you want moving dialog, Oscar worthy acting, and a swath of top name actors... This probably isn't the movie for you. If you just want to have a good time, have some laughs, see some great special effects and walk away from a movie with a smile on your face, go see this movie.