Battleship

Yes, it's Battleship. It's the board game, from Hasbro, that makes loudly proclaiming your defeat a national past time. And now, it's a movie with battleships and aliens.

Wait? How do the Aliens fit in?

They fit in because humans tried to communicate with their planet. Since their planet was just like Earth, the humans knocked on their door to see if anyone was home. Some Alien battleships show up, and a fifth screws up and crashes into Hong Kong.

The other four land in the Pacific, just near Hawaii, where some international war games are taking place. They seal off most of the fleet, so three ships have to face the invaders. When two of the ships are sunk, it's up to the stock characters on the third to save the day.

It's sort of like a naval combination of GI Joe and Transformers, both of whom are also Hasbro properties. At front and center is director Peter Berg (Hancock), who proudly displays the film's massive budget. There's tons of explosions, property destruction and heavy artillery. Chances are, you'll remember the destruction more than the characters who have to endure it.

There's an exciting music score provided by Steve Jablonsky, who also did the Transformers films. Despite the audible carnage, it still makes itself memorable in the end. There's not many memorable scenes that don't involve Battleships, but there's one in the beginning that really does. It involves the inept robbery of a convenience store by the rogue hero (Taylor Kitsch) set to The Pink Panther Theme.

Other than the heavy artillery, Battleship is an average cinematic exercise. It's decent enough filler while one waits for this summers' biggest guns, but it's not that outstanding. In other words, this Battleship is hit bad, but it's still staying afloat.