Lost at Sea: Universal's Sci-Fi Ocean Thriller Misses Mark At Being Summer Blockbuster
By: Brandon Porter
"Warning Red...Weapons Tight....I Want Everything Loaded!!!" - Admiral Shane
The Story
In the islands of Hawaii, The Navy's top military groups
have gathered to participate in the 2012 RIMPAC Naval Exercises. Among these
soldiers is Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch), a hot headed slacker with the skill
set of a senior officer and the disciplinary attitude of an obnoxious high
school dropout. Aside from trying to get the blessing from Admiral Shane (Liam Neeson) to marry his lovely daughter Sam (Brooklyn Decker), Hopper has been informed that these Naval Excercises might be the last time he represents the US Navy. With his older brother Commander Stone Hopper (Alexander Skarsgård) and his fellow crew members aboard the USS John Paul Jones including Petty Officers Walter 'The Beast' Lynch and Cora Raikes (John Tui and Rihanna), Alex sets out on his last days as a salior...until THEY arrive. Soon, strange objects crash into the pacific ocean and turn out to be alian war vessels manned by a race called The Regents. Now Alex and his fellow crew members have been trapped within a force field and find themselves in the fight of their lives. Hopper must now find a way to defeat the enemies and save his planet from destruction...The Battle For Earth...Begins At Sea!!!!!
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| Cora Raikes (Rihanna) and Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch) evaluate the radar for strange activity near their position. |
When Battleship was first annonced, a large majority of eyebrows were raised, some groans were heard and even laughter came when the first trailer was shown to the public. The stuck up reviewers wanted to know why a movie that was based on a board game was being made or even made it out of the developing room. To some, this was the final straw!! Hollywood had finally hit rock bottom. But for others, they wanted to give this film a chance thinking it would be a fun Sci-Fi action popcorn flick. The end result...about what you'ed expect. Battleship garnered a below average score of 36% on Rotten Tomatoes in addition to a less than immpressive box office performance of $9 Million as of May 18th. Some of the critics panned the film's plot, pace, and dialog while others looked at it as an action movie that dosen't take itself to seriously. One of the main things audiences wanted to see was how Rihanna would do in her first acting role. The reception she recieved came with many praise as well as criticism. Overall, everyone had their own views on the film. Some were good, but most were bad. Some people are just really sensitive and stuck up about things that are meant to be viewed for fun.
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| The Uss Missouri takes on the Regents' Command Ship |
Review
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| Rihanna's first big screen debut gets an A for effort and a B- for result. This isn't a bad career move for her, but hopefully she will get better down the road. |
When I first saw the trailer for Battleship, I
initially didn't pay much attention to it but at the same time, I knew that
this film would not be taken seriously. But after seeing the next few trailers,
I started to get real excited. It looked like a great summer action film
similar to Transformers. When I finally saw it on opening day, it was
somewhat an underwhelming experience. My biggest issue was the action in the
film. Though it was intense, it was in no way like previous Sci-Fi action
movies I've seen in the past. The action sequences were sluggishly paced and
inconsistent. With the Transformers series and even The Avengers
film earlier this month, the action sequences in those films are outstanding!!!
The action is constant and fast-paced with millions of things happening at once
while also keeping the story progressing nicely. Battleship on the other
hand was the opposite. It seemed like every action scene took forever to come
to light and I found myself losing interest pretty rapidly. When a scene
occurred, it felt like the next scene took almost 10-15 minutes to happen. This
inconsistency really hurt the film’s entertainment value in my eyes. As far as
the acting in the film, It was pretty average. After hearing the outstanding
script of The Avengers, Battleship’s script was a pretty big step
down. The actors try hard to make do with what their given, but the end result
is sloppy and sometimes annoying (preferably Hamish Linklater's character Cal).
But one thing I wanted to see was how pop star Rihanna would do in her first
movie role and I must say...She did pretty well!!! She was very convincing as
the Hardcore Petty Officer Cora Raikes from her Navy look to how she presented
the character. I must say I am pretty pleased with her performance. But despite
that, she has only scratched the surface. There is still plenty of room for
improvement. Hopefully, she will get better with experience. All in all, I
expected a fun fast paced summer action film but instead I got a pretty average
movie with obvious flaws as far as acting and action. Maybe if they actually do
a sequel, these things will improve.
Rating and Final
Thoughs
79% C+
In the end, it was slow paced and inconsistent action that ended
up hurting the film. It's a shame to see such a great potential summer
blockbuster end up sinking into the waters of mediocrity.
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| If ideas for a second Battleship movie are truly being thrown in, Universal better revaluate their battle stratagy to make sure the next one is a HIT!!! |
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