First Impressions: Battleship

Previews could really do damage to a movie’s viewership.  My friend Ann and I went to the cinema recently. We had been lured in by the movie Avengers, but by the time we arrived fashionably late, the theater had been fully booked. So was the hall for our second option; Project X.

One movie had just started though; Battleship. We almost turned and  left, but since she was traveling back to her state of abode the very next day, we decided to just make do with Battleship, a movie starring Taylor Kitsch, Liam Neeson, Alexander Skarsgård, Rihanna and Brooklyn Decker.

Why make do? We had seen the preview, and neither of us was ready to sit through another Pearl Harbor.  

However … I must confess; the movie was anything but routine military. It was funny and action packed, even the aliens were almost too funny to be scary. I had my two-year old son with me, and he thoroughly enjoyed the first twenty-five minutes, before he closed his eyes and slept through up to five loud vessel bombings. I tell you, that child is a wonder. 

Rihanna didn’t do badly by my standards. I think she just decided to guess what Halle Berry would do and followed suit. I loved Liam’s soldier-father act, and I did think saving the world was a long way to go for Kitsch's character to get a job back. But it made for a great story line. Definitely worth the money.

Moral of the story: don't always rely solely on the previews. One hour thirty minutes cannot be comfortably packed into two minutes, or even five.