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“Battleship” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Because even against space aliens, war is hell.
I was looking forward to "Battleship" being an epic stinker. Apparently, it's merely a by the numbers stinker.
A little something from the NY Times review: "If borrowed plots and lazily constructed characters weren’t enough, the film also indulges in shameless button-pushing, with greatest-generation homages and shout-outs to injured veterans of more recent wars. It all builds to a plot twist near the end that is improbable even for a science-fiction tale. If you find this absurd turn of events stirring, then this movie is for you. But you might instead end up giggling, which does not appear to be what the filmmakers were going for." (http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/05/18/movies/aliens-fight-heroic-earthlings-in-battleship.html?ref=movies)
Meanwhile, Roger Ebert is less scathing of "Battleship" than I'd hoped for. He ultimately concludes that "Battleship," wihle hardly good, is at least better than the Transformers movies, because it makes at least a nod at having characters and has an actual third act. Nevertheless, he gets a few bon mots in:
"Of course, in the old B-movie tradition, our response to the alien visit is immediately military. There's not one word of discussion about the aliens possibly just making a social call. We invite them, they come and we open fire. This despite the fact that they're remarkably humanoid; when we finally remove the helmet from one alien's spacesuit, he turns out to look alarmingly like James Carville."
"The film eventually comes down to lots of scenes in which things get blowed up real good."
(http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120516/REVIEWS/120519990)
I was looking forward to "Battleship" being an epic stinker. Apparently, it's merely a by the numbers stinker.
A little something from the NY Times review: "If borrowed plots and lazily constructed characters weren’t enough, the film also indulges in shameless button-pushing, with greatest-generation homages and shout-outs to injured veterans of more recent wars. It all builds to a plot twist near the end that is improbable even for a science-fiction tale. If you find this absurd turn of events stirring, then this movie is for you. But you might instead end up giggling, which does not appear to be what the filmmakers were going for." (http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/05/18/movies/aliens-fight-heroic-earthlings-in-battleship.html?ref=movies)
Meanwhile, Roger Ebert is less scathing of "Battleship" than I'd hoped for. He ultimately concludes that "Battleship," wihle hardly good, is at least better than the Transformers movies, because it makes at least a nod at having characters and has an actual third act. Nevertheless, he gets a few bon mots in:
"Of course, in the old B-movie tradition, our response to the alien visit is immediately military. There's not one word of discussion about the aliens possibly just making a social call. We invite them, they come and we open fire. This despite the fact that they're remarkably humanoid; when we finally remove the helmet from one alien's spacesuit, he turns out to look alarmingly like James Carville."
"The film eventually comes down to lots of scenes in which things get blowed up real good."
(http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120516/REVIEWS/120519990)
