Battleship
It’s understandable if you watch Peter Berg’s 2012 thriller, “Battleship,” and mistake it for a Michael Bay film. If you’re just looking at the surface of this Hasbro game adaptation, it very much feels like Bay, from the absurd action sequences and goofy humor to the film’s almost pornographic jingoism. Of all of Berg’s films I’ve seen, “Battleship” is easily the dumbest one of the bunch, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to enjoying it thoroughly, as well. Berg leans into the craziness of Jon and Erich Hoeber’s screenplay, and delivers an adventure movie that gives us a solid premise, entertaining characters and a sincerity that is refreshing compared to Bay’s cynicism in many of his films.
Peter Berg is a filmmaker that I’ve never been too high on- or, at least, he’s never been one I’ve made a real point of giving his films my time in theatres- but I might begin to think otherwise as I look back on some of his other films. While “Battleship” gives me the impression of a director like Bay, looking at other films like “Friday Night Lights” or “Deepwater Horizon” or “Hancock” or “The Kingdom,” Berg is probably more like Richard Donner, and “Battleship” fits in with that workman aesthetic. There’s no headache-inducing quick cuts or visual confusion with Berg like there is with Bay, and he doesn’t live by a “bigger equals better” filmmaking philosophy. Character and story matter more to him, and even if the film deals with aliens invading the Earth, that holds true, and is part of why “Battleship” genuinely entertains.
The film focuses on a Naval meeting of different countries- namely, the United States and Japan- called RimPac that is taking place in the waters in Hawaii. Among the American sailors there are brothers Stone and Alex Hopper (Alexander Skarsgård and Taylor Kitsch). Alex has been a screw-up whom Stone has forced into military life after his most recent legal stint- to get the attention of Sam (Brooklyn Decker)- got him arrested for breaking into a convenience store. The Navy has been good for Alex, but he still needs to learn some humility and responsibility if he’s not only going to stay in the Navy, but be able to convince Sam’s father (Liam Neeson), who happens to be an Admiral, he’s worthy of marrying her. As all of this is going on, though, some alien craft make their way into Earth’s airspace, and touchdown by Hawaii, and they don’t come in peace. The biggest game of Battleship is about to begin.
You’ve seen this story before, in so many different ways, and it ends in basically the same way all of those others do. If that isn’t your cup of tea, I’d probably skip this, but even if you’re tired of the premise, Berg and the writers put a good spin on things that makes this fun. I like how they managed to work in the premise of Hasbro’s game into this narrative in a way that makes movie sense, even if it’s still completely ridiculous from the perspective of intelligent storytelling. We see that the missiles the aliens fire are in the shape of the pegs of the game, and at a certain point in the film, Alex and Japanese Captain Yugi Nagata (Tadanobu Asano) have to create a grid in order to try and predict where the alien ships will be next. There’s not much in the way of tension in how any of this plays out, but it’s enjoyable to watch it play out, complete with a Steve Jablonsky score that tells you exactly how to feel at any given moment. If this movie loses me at all, it’s in its sense of humor, which is often stupid in the same way Michael Bay’s movies can be at their worst, and the film’s gratuitous flag-waving, although at least this feels a bit more genuine in its adoration towards veterans and people who choose military life than other films do. Berg has not trafficked in big-budget escapism much, but when he does, it’s a movie worth checking out, even if you know where it’s going along the way.
