Hard to keep afloat

Battleship :

Ruwini JAYAWARDANA

Based on Hasbro’s board game, Peter Ber’s Battleship is similar to the 2007 science fiction action movie Transformers. Some of its battle scenes also remind you of G I Joe.

This is a tale of an underdog triumphing against the all odds. When hotheaded Lieutenant Alex Hopper is asked to take over the naval force and save the world from aliens, the audience brace themselves for a happily-ever-after ending in which the hero triumphs over evil and wins the hands of his love interest. Samantha, Hopper’s girlfriend, happens to be the Vice Admiral’s daughter. This does not make things easy for Hopper since he makes a bad impression on him from the word go.

Then comes the moment when he can prove his worth when his superiors are killed in battle. Hopper finds himself and his destroyer, USS John Paul Jones, trapped within a force-field and faced with powerful alien machinery.

The movie is full of clichés. You get moments when things look helpless but the heroes discover how to outwit the extraterrestrial forces in the nick of time. Predictably Hopper’s girlfriend too is not left out of the action. She happens to be in the other location which is of interest to the aliens as they try to establish a means of communication with their kind from outer space.

The characters too are largely stereotypes. There are the unpredictable underdog, the best looking girl on his arms, the impossible-to-win-over father-in-law and the timid sidekick.

You also get moments which are not quite convincing. For instance Hopper and his team track down an old battleship and seek the help of retired naval officers to destroy the last alien ship. It is unrealistic that the old ship, USS Missouri, would not sink like a stone especially since we see that it is struck by the extraterrestrials’ missiles. Questions arise in instances in which the aliens who seem to be vastly superior in technology and strength do not seem to take advantage of it by finishing off the fleet in weak moments.

The strength of the movie mainly lies in its visual display. A lot of work had gone into the visual effects and computer graphics. Another key interest of the movie is seeing reputed vocalist Rihanna in a non-singing role. She is commendable in her performance and handles the weapons well.

Taylor Kitsch makes a smart Lieutenant Hopper. He strikes a balance between the serious and humorous moments. Brooklyn Decker does not add much to the story in Samantha’s role. She is only presented to look beautiful and as another prize that Hopper has to win. Liam Neeson is hardly noticeable as Vice Admiral Shane. Alexander Skarsgård and Tadanobu Asano play some significant roles.

Overall the script is underwritten and does not harbour anything interesting. It will catch the eye of only action junkies but does not hold any nutritional value. It is only the visual splendour which keeps this sinking vessel afloat.