Wow, we have very different opinions on this one. I mean, come on. You don't watch these movies for Oscar-worthy performances. It was an action movie with lots of things blowing up and fighting and cool special effects with a good little mix of humor and intensity. The aliens reminded me a lot of the characters/costumes from Halo (which damn it...WHEN ARE THEY GOING TO MAKE THAT MOVIE???), but overall, I found it enjoyable. I guess my taste isn't as sophisticated as your 8 year old since even HE found it to be lame.
I really liked it and wasn't bored for a second.
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I guess our opinions do differ. No, I'm not expecting Shakespeare in the park ("Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?") but at the same time, I'd like to see the cast do a little more than just go through the motions.
Special effects are a given these days. Due to the advances of CGI, if a movie doesn't have those (a big budget one, I mean) then it's more or less a 'pass' in the eyes of the theater-goer. I like to watch stuff get blowed up real good same as the next person. But you still need a script.
I've seen movies which had clever lines, plot holes the size of Jupiter (betcha thought I was gonna say Uranus hehehehe...Beavis and Butthead moment
) and everything in between, but the one thing a movie needs if it lacks in actors or budget is a decent script. Battleship had nothing except the Halo (you're right) lookalikes.
Agree to disagree on you with this flick. It's Saturday night in Osaka which means a good
katsudon dinner with my wife and children, watching Spiderman (the Sam Raimi version) with my younger boy, and then working on my latest novel. Have a good one!