BIG SCREEN
Movie: Battleship
Cast: Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgard, Rihanna
How many times on the silver screen have we seen extra terrestrial creatures coming to earth? Let it be the adorable one from Spielberg's ET, the ferocious creatures from the “Alien” series, or the comical ones from “Mars Attacks!” Just like the boy-meets-girl romantic comedies, this science fiction genre also remains evergreen. The latest one is “Battleship”.
Plot
The plot has got no fresh elements to flaunt. Scientists find out a planet which has got favourable conditions for the existence of life, and they try to communicate with the inhabitants, if any, on that planet. The creatures in there, who are far more advanced than human beings in their combat methods, invade earth. The U.S navy looks helpless, and its ships are easily destroyed by the attacker's mightier weapons. Just as impending disaster looks inevitable, Navy officer Alex takes charge of an outdated battleship, along with a few Navy veterans and takes on the aliens, aided by the heroics of his girlfriend, and a retired army officer who is also an amputee.
The screenplay doesn't look too good, and the dialogues aren't great, at times. The aliens, who looked invincible in the beginning, suddenly turn vulnerable, towards the climax, which is, quite hard to digest. The real motive of the attack is left unexplained, among several other things.
To look at the positives, Battleship has got decent, and not any better, performances in it. Background score is ordinary, but it doesn't irritate you. The real up sides are the direction and visual effects. Script is the raw material that the director can work with, and when the script is weak, there aren't too many avenues to be explored. Still, direction is fine, and the visual effects are good enough for the story.
Take a chance
It takes creativity and flair to come up with a good film, on this kind of a subject, and this movie lacks it. But still, it could be watched for the combat scenes, depending upon the kind of a movie viewer that you are.
Bottomline: Don't look for too much. Just enjoy the fireworks.
Sudeep is an IT professional.
