Battleship

After a meet-cute with the skanky daughter (Brooklyn Decker) of a barking naval commander played by Liam Neeson, a total loser (Taylor Kitsch) mans up and joins the Navy. With his brother’s help, he manages to work his way up the chain of command while remaining a screw-up. But he gets his shot at redemption when the fleet sets out on some big Navy exercise. If you’ve seen the ads, you know where this is going: Next come the aliens and the explosions. Director Peter Berg has gone from the jagged edges of Very Bad Things to being a fairly polished Hollywood stone, and here he’s delivered one very polished two-hour commercial that is much more visually cohesive than a Michael Bay movie. Writers Erich and Jon Hoeber also deserve some credit for floating a narrative out of the basic board game on which the film is based, managing to incorporate the iconic aspects of the game into the mix, while laying down with a subtext involving the nature of games and adding some nice touches regarding disabled vets and forgotten war relics. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG-13 C.B.