Battleship

Posted on May 17, 2012 at 9:29 pm

As if it wasn’t enough of a challenge to try to create a movie based on a board game — and a board game based on a game that is perfectly adequately played with pencil and paper — this movie has to find its way around the fact that the large armored warships that give the game and the movie its title have been out of commission as everything but museum pieces for decades, replaced by much more powerful ships called destroyers. And yet, director Peter Berg (“Friday Night Lights”) and screenwriters Eric and Jon Hoeber (“Red“) have somehow managed to add some aliens and a lot of explosions to create a good, old-fashioned summer popcorn movie that is good, old-fashioned fun.

They give us half an hour to meet the main characters. Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch, thankfully making it possible to overlook “John Carter“) is an impetuous but gallant young man. His brother Stone (“True Blood’s” Alexander Skarsgård), a naval officer frustrated with Alex’s lack of direction, insists that Alex get some discipline and join the navy. A couple of years later, Stone is a commander and Alex is a promising but still-impetuous lieutenant in love with Samantha (Brooklyn Decker), the daughter of the admiral (Liam Neeson). In the midst of an event called RIMPAC that is like an Olympics of international naval operations, just after Alex gets in trouble for a scuffle with a Japanese naval officer (Tadanobu Asano), something happens that is not part of the program. For four years, a program called the Beacon Project has been sending signals to a planet that is similar to earth and capable of supporting life in the hope of making contact. The signals have been seen as an invitation and the inhabitants of the other planet have arrived, like Columbus. And, as a character points out, if they are Columbus, we — all of humanity — are the the Indians. Except it is more like Columbus arriving with an armored brigade and bombs that slice through destroyers like bullets through tissue paper. And they operate a enormous rockets that operate like Decepticons the size of the Chrysler Building in a world with no Optimus Primes.

The Battleship board game involves trying to guess where the other player’s warships are hidden by calling out squares on a grid, and the Hoebers find a witty way to make that a part of the story, and to bring in a real battleship, too. There’s more than just bang-bang. Alex comes up with some clever, way-out-of-the box tactics and Rihanna is a hoot as a determined petty officer weapons specialist. And in a cute variation on the whole “ET phone home” thing, the aliens need to get to the Beacon Project communication center. The only people who can stop them are none other than the beautiful daughter of the admiral and a wounded warrior she happens to have been trying to inspire by taking him for a bit of a mountain climb. He is played by real-life West Point graduate Gregory D. Gadson, a double leg amputee, in a performance adding some nicely quiet dignity to the story. There is not much quiet or dignity in the rest of the movie, but Berg stages the action scenes with kinetic energy and a sure sense of fun. (And be sure to stay all the way through the credits for an extra scene.)

Parents should know that this movie has non-stop action-style violence with aliens, many explosions and military battles, characters injured and killed, and some strong language (s-words, muffled f-words).

Family discussion: How did the qualities that got Alex into trouble also help him? Would you say the same about anyone else in the story who became an unexpected hero?

If you like this, try: “Independence Day” and “Transformers” – and the board game!

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MVP of the Week: Brooklyn Decker

Posted on May 16, 2012 at 11:03 am

This week’s Most Valuable Performer is clearly Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker, who stars in two big nationwide releases. In “Battleship,” she plays the hero’s plucky and supportive love interest and in “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” she is the movie’s high point and comic relief as the much-younger wife of a very competitive former NASCAR champion played by Dennis Quaid.

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Actors Opening This Week

Summer Movie Preview: 2012

Posted on May 1, 2012 at 3:21 pm

The summer movie season kicks off this week with the year’s most eagerly anticipated superhero movie, “The Avengers,” with an all-star cast of Marvel characters including returning stars Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and newcomers Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye. Some of the other highlights of the next four months include:

Big and Loud — Chases, Explosions, Superheroes, and Aliens:

“Battleship” Yes, it’s based on the classic guessing game. But we never played it with aliens. With Peter Berg (“Friday Night Lights”) directing and a cast that includes Liam Neeson and Rhianna, it looks very promising.

“Snow White and the Huntsman” The year’s second Snow White movie is the dark and scary one with “Twilight’s” Kristen Stewart as the princess and Charlize Theron as the evil stepmother.

“Prometheus” Probably tops on the fanboy excitement list, this “Aliens” spin-off directed by Ridley Scott stars Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, and, from the original “Dragon Tattoo” trilogy, Noomi Rapace.

“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” Steven Spielberg directed the prestige Lincoln movie coming out late this year. This is the summer Lincoln movie, based on the best-selling book that has our 16h president splitting fewer rails and staking more hearts. The wonderful Mary Elizabeth Winstead appears as Mary Lincoln.

“G.I. Joe: Retaliation” The sequel looks like a big improvement over the original, with Bruce Willis, Channing Tatum, and The Rock. From the trailer, it looks like “Step Up 3D” director Jon M. Chu may bring some dazzling kinetic energy to the stunts.

“The Amazing Spider-Man” Andrew Garfield takes over the role of Spidey as a teenager and Emma Stone plays high school love interest Gwen Stacy in this reboot.

“The Dark Knight Rises” Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan have completed their third and last Batman movie. Tom Hardy plays supervillan Bane.

“The Bourne Legacy” Jeremy Renner takes over from Matt Damon in this story of another agent who was part of the notorious Treadstone project. Tony Gilroy, who wrote the three Bourne movies takes over as director.

“Total Recall” The classic, if campy, Arnold Schwarzenegger movie about a man trying to recover the erased memories of his work as a spy has been remade with Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Bryan Cranston, Jessica Biel, Bill Nighy, and Ethan Hawke.

“The Expendables 2” Sylvester Stallone’s AARP action hero movie was such a hit we get a sequel. Expect to see a lot of stuff blow up.

Quirky, Offbeat, and Independent:

“Ted” Mark Wahlberg has a talking teddy bear, voiced by Seth MacFarlane. Definitely not for kids.

“Seeking a Friend for the End of the World” Steve Carell and Kiera Knightly try to figure out how to make the best of the three weeks before the planet blows up.

“To Rome With Love” Woody Allen. Another European city. Another powerhouse cast, including Jesse Eisenberg, Alison Pill, Greta Gerwig, Judy Davis, Penelope Cruz, Alec Baldwin, Ellen Page, and Allen himself.

“Hope Springs” Middle-aged couple Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep go for marital counseling with therapist Steve Carell.

Comedies and Kids’ Movies:

“Dark Shadows” Tim Burton and Johnny Depp bring the classic — if low-budget — vampire soap opera to the big screen as Barnabas Collins has to cope with the lava lamp era of the 1970’s.

“Neighborhood Watch” Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Rosemarie DeWitt star in a story of a group of suburban dads who take on alien invaders. Sort of “Attack the Cul-de-Sac.”

“Men in Black 3” I don’t ask it to be as good as the first one. I just ask that it be better than the second one. J (Will Smith) goes back in time to meet K (Tommy Lee Jones) as a young man (Josh Brolin, eerily channeling Jones). Alice Eve and Emma Thompson join the cast as the young and older versions of “Agent O.”

“Madagascar 3” The animals are still trying to get back home, this time hiding out in a European circus.

“Ice Age: Continental Drift” The sabertooth tiger, the mammoth, and the sloth are back, and so is Scrat. Additions to the cast include Jennifer Lopez and Nicki Minaj.

“ParaNorman” The “Coraline” folks are back with another spooky story, this time an “animated zombie comedy” about a boy who can see dead people

“Brave” Pixar’s first movie with a girl as the lead character is the story of a feisty Scottish princess who has to save the day — and does not have to marry a prince.

And Big Hair Musicals:

“Rock of Ages” Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta Zones, and Alec Baldwin star in this tribute to stadium rock and the 80’s.

“Sparkle” “American Idol’s” Jordin Sparks and Whitney Houston in her last role appear with Ceelo Green, Mike Epps, and Derek Luke in this remake of the musical about a “Supremes”-style girl group.

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