Battleship Movie Review

Before driving to the theater, I read a review headline that read, "Big, dumb, and loud". Whoever wrote that must be big on dumb. This movie is big, fun, and exciting. And, yes, the musical lineup is full-throttle.

The movie is far from dumb. It actually shows and addresses some hard issues we have in America: veterans from WWII, Korea, and Vietnam to whom freedom owes a debt. And, the film also touches on injured veterans from recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Okay, enough refuting the silly reviews of dunderheads.

This movie pours on the fun. Wave after wave of warships, gun battles, and big explosions will keep you entertained throughout the entire 2 hours and 11 minutes.

The USS Missouri pounding through waves, and her massive turrets boasting three 16-inch guns each impresses the eye of the viewer. Additionally, views of the task force at sea also impress. This is one of the best reasons to see Battleship on the big screen.

The scene moves forward several years. Alex Hopper is a Lieutenant and Stone Hopper is the Captain of his own ship. The RIMPAC naval exercises are under way.

Thanks to Alex's short temper and refusal to listen to Stone's team captain directions, they lose their navy soccer match against the Japanese. In this scene, an animosity develops between Japanese Captain Nagata and Alex Hopper.

More words are exchanged, and finally, a fight breaks out. As a result of this, Alex is going to lose his commission and be put out of the Navy when RIMPAC joint naval exercises involving thirteen different nations are completed.

Note: Does this look a little too Star Trekky for anyone else? Alex Hopper = James T. Kirk, Nagata = Spock, Rihanna's character = Uhuru. See Battleship, and let me know what you think in the comments below.

Okay, I listen to classical or Christian music. I only know that Rihanna is a singer. That's it.

However, she is not one of those famous-for-artistic-ability personalities who cannot act well enough to earn a legitimate role in civic theater (think Ice T). She had some tough scenes. I never thought she was anything other than a very good actress.

Again, this movie has a lot of action, and similar to The Avengers, has some fun laughs. I really never came out of the movie to look at some bad acting (like Loki in Thor) or to look at something that did not really fit the situation.

Alex Hopper's love interest is Samantha Shane (Brooklyn Decker), the daughter of Admiral Shane, the commanding officer of the Pacific fleet. Samantha works as a physical therapist in the movie. Her new assignment is LtCol Canales. She reads a note from his previous case manager. The note says Mick has "given up the fight."

Interestingly, the actor who plays Canales is in fact a real Lieutenant Colonel. He leads the Army Wounded Warrior Program. Gregory Gadson is the opposite of Canales when we first see him.

Mick Canales finds himself in the mountains with Samantha Shane when the attack hits. He quickly finds his old military leadership groove, and gets the job done.

The two join up with the only scientist to survive the Beacon Project, which sent signals into space and lured the aliens here in the first place. The scientist theorizes he can pierce the alien communications and physical shield. But, he needs a piece of equipment which is at the transmitter site, now occupied by powerful, armored aliens.

Cal Zapata says he does not have any courage to return and take the equipment. Canales says, "You are going to acquire that courage right now and go in and get it." That really sounds Army.