Based on the board game of the same name, I guess you can say that Battleship delivers on what it promises but with aliens for enemies. There is a lot of action, but unlike the board game that features a lot of hits and misses, the film tends to miss most of the time.
After a tedious introduction, the aliens are eventually introduced and ILM take over delivering visually impressive effects again and again but unfortunately there is no sense of danger or emotion. With three ships caught in a force field as they are shot upon to pieces, there should be a sense of danger but there isn't any. Instead the film plays its biggest hand first with a lengthy mind-numbing action scene, taking away any sense of escalation for the film.
While the CGI is great, it lacks any sense of immersion, choosing wide (shaky) shots of the action, rather than getting in close to the characters who are in danger and could soon die. Yet the film will zoom in up close to a sphere-like robot as it mindlessly destroys a freeway. It is ironic then that the best scene is almost devoid of effects, as the characters use a computer, similar to the layout of the board game, to fight the aliens at night. There is a slight sense of suspense and allows for a break from the rest of the mindless action.
CGI effects aside, the script and direction is all sub-par, giving uninteresting scenes so that we, the audience might relate to the characters. The actors are all poorly used including Liam Neeson who can usually help a film like this. However, Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano helps to keep the film's head above the water whenever he is on screen, providing military tactics to Taylor Kitsch.
By the end, the film is an unsatisfying mess, taking a couple of minutes towards the end for everyone to have their photo taken together using a product placement phone... With The Avengers currently out and so many other great films on the way, there is little reason to choose this.
After a tedious introduction, the aliens are eventually introduced and ILM take over delivering visually impressive effects again and again but unfortunately there is no sense of danger or emotion. With three ships caught in a force field as they are shot upon to pieces, there should be a sense of danger but there isn't any. Instead the film plays its biggest hand first with a lengthy mind-numbing action scene, taking away any sense of escalation for the film.
While the CGI is great, it lacks any sense of immersion, choosing wide (shaky) shots of the action, rather than getting in close to the characters who are in danger and could soon die. Yet the film will zoom in up close to a sphere-like robot as it mindlessly destroys a freeway. It is ironic then that the best scene is almost devoid of effects, as the characters use a computer, similar to the layout of the board game, to fight the aliens at night. There is a slight sense of suspense and allows for a break from the rest of the mindless action.
CGI effects aside, the script and direction is all sub-par, giving uninteresting scenes so that we, the audience might relate to the characters. The actors are all poorly used including Liam Neeson who can usually help a film like this. However, Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano helps to keep the film's head above the water whenever he is on screen, providing military tactics to Taylor Kitsch.
By the end, the film is an unsatisfying mess, taking a couple of minutes towards the end for everyone to have their photo taken together using a product placement phone... With The Avengers currently out and so many other great films on the way, there is little reason to choose this.