Battleship on DVD

Wow, I just finished watching Battleship on DVD, and I'm so excited that this movie is so much better than I thought it could be. I mean, it's crazy to base a movie off a game, let alone this one, but whoever thought up the plot had a lot of fun and stepped outside the box (the game box, that is), while also leaving in one very clever nod to the game as we know it. I'm impressed.

What makes any war or alien invasion movie good is a narrow focus, especially on character, and Battleship does just that. For reasons we don't know (and are never really told), Alex Hopper has made one big mistake out of his life. As a last-ditch effort, his brother recruits him to the Navy, but even the Navy can't reform him. It's not until Alex is trapped in a bubble on the ocean with alien invaders that he has a chance to try to redeem himself and make a final stand that will count.

The talented cast of characters includes memorable roles from Liam Neeson, Alexander Skarsgard, Tadanobu Asano, Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker as the love interest, and Taylor Kitsch as Alex Hopper, just to name a few. Battleship is rated PG-13, mostly for intense sci-fi action. People die, but thankfully, it's not a complete disaster movie where half the cast is left at the end (let me amend that to the cast we care about). It runs long at slightly over two hours but doesn't feel like it, giving us just enough emotional drama to make us care and then filling in the rest with weird aliens and lots of stuff blowing up.

Sure, to some extent, it's a popcorn movie. You probably don't want to think too hard about logistics. But if you're okay with Dr. Who (Great Britain's sci-fi show about an alien who saves the universe over and over again; if you've never heard of it, you're missing out), this won't bother you.

If you are familiar with Hasbro's Battleship game (And who isn't? Or am I dating myself here?), you probably think this is the corniest idea for a movie yet, worse than making one off a theme park ride. But I suggest you give it a try. One thing can be said for sure about this type of movie: it's pure entertainment. You might even want to dust off those old game pieces when you're done; it's that inspiring.

Three and a half stars.