Battleship movie review

Battleship. Just the name alone has me asking questions. How could they turn one of my favorite childhood games into a movie? How are they going to use battleships, since they are no longer part of the U.S. Navy? And then: How awesome is this movie going to be?

If you want a deep plot and reality, then stay away. In this movie I can point to all the inconsistencies myself and don’t need or want you doing it. Just sit and enjoy.

This has two very important, to me, subliminal points, that I wonder if anyone will pick up on. One; the use of disabled veterans. There was a line in the movie when this disabled vet is talking about staying, fighting the aliens, a scientists asks, who talks like that? A similar response could have been said about a line from We Were Soldiers. Who talks like that? Members of the military, that’s who. They talk like that because they believe that. No matter what your liberal loving minds think. But I digress. This point was the use of a disabled vet, who still had more than enough fight left in him. Just because they lose a limb or two; if they can still do everything they did before, let them continue to serve if that’s what they want. When you have someone as passionate as that, why put them out to pasture? I just learned that the person who plays the disabled vet, was actually a real colonel and heads up the wounded warrior program. No wonder it worked to have someone like him being in that role.

The second point was the use of ‘veteran’ vets. The men who served aboard the battleship. That was one of the things that I had initial problems with from the previews. There are no active battleships in the U.S. Navy.  Where the hell were they going to get one? Well they did. And I am so proud to see who they got. It was so appropriate.

This movie is a good movie. Not a great one nor a crappy one. A good solid movie. But there were some questions I thought about the aliens they never answered. But then, it never was really about the aliens, It was about some high action and a lot of firepower. Then there was the suspending of time. Things happened fast. The redemption of the main character was good. This was a good film to showcase the surface navy from a smaller ship stand point, then transitioning to the ‘big boys.’

Though Liam Neeson’s name is on this movie, he is definitely in a lesser role here. The main role is Taylor Kitsch who was in Friday Night Lights. He does a credible job here. And their support actors and actresses are fantastic here also.  I loved Jesse Plemons as Boatswain Mate Seaman Jimmy 'Ordy' Ord.  He grew on me.

And one of the alien weapons was shaped like the pegs from the old Battleship game which i thought was a nice nod to the game.  

Trying to review a movie and not give away the scenes that I loved is difficult. The premise is simple: we send out a message to space. Aliens show up. Battle in sues. Along the way the hero grows up and saves the day. 

3 stars (out of 5)