Critiqued: Battleship

Remember the saying, slow and steady wins the race? It is very apt to describe this... this creation of epic proportions called Battleship. Based on the very very popular game, this action packed ride will give you enough of a rush to last a long time. No joke. It starts off slow and then you begin to wonder what's with all the senseless explosions... but keep watching and then it starts to make sense. But this film isn't just about a game, it is also a tribute to the US Navy and the Veterans who fought in wars past. It gives you a glimpse into the post-war life of wounded soldiers and an absolutely awesome display of Naval warfare. 

The visual effects were just spellbinding and it is no surprise once you learn that it was done by Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) which is owned by none other than one George Lucas. One of the things that popped in our heads while watching the film is this: remember the times when you would walk into a home theater store and say you were interested in purchasing a home theater system, they took you into a demo room with all the equipment and put on Terminator 2 as a demo video so you could experience all the effects? Battleship just became that next demo video. It has a great combination of visual effects, sound effects and a background score to boot. 

The story is pretty predictable but then again what can you expect of a movie that based off a board game! Imagination only goes so far. But for what it lacked in story, Battleship more than made up for it in special effects. With a cast in Taylor Kitsch (remember Gambit from Wolverine?), Liam Neeson, Brooklyn Decker and Rihanna in her debut role (which was pretty good we might add - far cry from Beyonce's first try at acting) among others, the film had a good combination of comic moments coupled with straight up action. But keep in mind what we said before, slow and steady wins the race. And for the Entourage fans, Jerry Ferrara also had a small part to play. The tribute to the actual game was also very very cool. It was definitely an WOW! moment in the theater.

To get the complete experience, you HAVE to watch this film in the theaters (unless you have a kickass home theater system - but still, watching it on a huge theater screen is a must in our humble opinion). We were a little disappointed they didn't go 3D with this project. With the visuals the way they were in 2D, we can only imagine how they might have been in 3D! All said, it was money well spent. It gets our recommendation.

Battleship is currently playing in Chennai at Satyam theaters and at Inox. It releases in the U.S.A on May 18th 2012.

P.S. Stay till the end.