“Battleship” — This is big, dumb fun that knows it’s big, dumb fun and enthusiastically embraces its big, dumb, fun nature. Director Peter Berg has crafted an almost fetishistic homage to Michael Bay — like the “Transformers” series, this is yet another action extravaganza inspired by a Hasbro product — with its epic set pieces, swaggering bravado, panoramic skies and cheesy romance. It doesn’t lean all the way into parody, but rather feels more like an affectionate and knowing approximation of a very specific, muscular genre: one of those the-world-is-ending-we’re-all-gonna-die movies. And because it’s a little cheeky and doesn’t seem to take itself totally seriously, it’s more enjoyable than one might expect from a movie based on a board game created in the 1960s. Yes, it can be deafeningly noisy between the crunch and shriek of giant metal objects fighting each other and the blaring rock anthems meant to pump up the crowd even further. No, it’s not subtle between the annihilation caused by alien invaders and the rousing sense of patriotism that’s the real weapon in this battle. But then again, would you really expect (or want) subtlety from this type of big-budget summer escape? Speaking of blockbusters, Taylor Kitsch gets more to work with here than he did earlier this year in “John Carter” as Alex Hopper. A slacker and troublemaker at the film’s start, he joins the Navy at the insistence of his older brother, Stone (Alexander Skarsgard). A certain gorgeous blonde named Sam (Brooklyn Decker) also provides some inspiration. Flash-forward and Alex is a lieutenant on one Naval destroyer while Stone is the commanding officer of another. Both answer to Adm. Shane (a withering, well-cast Liam Neeson), who happens to be Sam’s father. They’re all taking part in some international war games off the Hawaiian coast when — oops! — a satellite signal sent to a newly discovered planet that looks a lot like ours in a neighboring galaxy provokes some angry extraterrestrials. PG-13 for intense sequences of violenc e, action and destruction, and for language. 131 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
Posts Tagged The Associated Press
The U.S. government has adopted the first set of comprehensive changes in the emergency planning program for communities near nuclear power plants since its creation after the Three Mile Island accident in 1979.
Fight Schedule
May 16
At The Times Union Center, Albany, N.Y. (ESPN), Karim Mayfield vs. Raymond Serrano, 10, for Mayfield’s WBO NABO light welterweight title.
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today (times EDT):
PARIS (AP) — Francois Hollande campaigned for the French presidency with some pretty radical promises. But his carefully worded agenda and his political record suggest as president he’s likely to revert to the moderate consensus-building that has characterized his career.