It would have been almost unthinkable a couple of years ago, but Hasbro has become one of the hottest properties in Hollywood at the moment. After the Transformers franchise brought in well over $300 million domestic with each installment, studios have been involved in a mad dash to put out as many movies based on Hasbro toys and games as possible. The company's latest property to hit the big screen is Battleship, adapted from the naval-based guessing game.
Only a few seconds into the trailer it’s obvious that director Peter Berg is looking to capitalize on the big-budget robot/alien look of the Transformers movie. The movie looks to take very few, if any, cues from the game that it’s based off of, but that might be a good thing because the game itself wouldn't make for a very exciting movie. Instead of cerebral movements across a game-board, we see mountainous alien ships, menacing robots, and plenty of explosions throughout the trailer. For a big-budget summer movie that’s really all you could ask for; however, no one should go into this movie expecting anything new or risky. Again, this is big-budget action and adventure, so it would be best to leave your brain at the door.
A quick look at the cast offers a very strange mix of great talent and cinematic neophytes. There is no denying the talent of Alexander Skarsgård and Liam Neeson, but we’re unsure if Taylor Kitsch and Rihanna will be able to match their acting chops. Much like the Transformers series did, solid acting is set-up in the supporting roles to anchor the good looking, but less talented, lead roles. But when aliens are gunning down Battleships, no one is going to be looking for meticulous acting technique.
Battleship looks like it will fit nicely into the void that Transformers will leave behind between its 3rd and 4th installments, but we’ll see if it can offer a bit more than just action and explosions when it gets released on May 18, 2012.
