Battleship

Does anyone else not remember an alien invasion being part of the venerable Battleship naval-combat board game?

Yet here they are, powerful extraterrestrials battling for intergalactic supremacy with our American fleet of destroyers, submarines and aircraft carriers in the big-budget epic Battleship, which supposedly is based upon the aforementioned two-player game.

This science-fiction hybrid of Top Gun and Transformers certainly is more exciting than the game, which is about all that can be said. Otherwise, it’s a shameless exercise in style over substance that is proudly shallow and predictable.

Hopper (Taylor Kitsch) is a hotshot lieutenant in the Navy, stationed in Hawaii to take part in war-games training along with his commander brother (Alexander Skarsgard), who convinced him to enlist as a method of taming his loose-cannon attitude. He is talented but arrogant, qualities that endear him to a young therapist (Brooklyn Decker) but repel her father, Admiral Crane (Liam Neeson).

The training is halted when some of the ships become entangled in a battle with hostile alien visitors, the result of a top-secret government experiment gone awry. From there, it’s one battle sequence after another — whether by air, sea or land — during which American and Japanese troops must cooperate to save the planet.

Director Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) keeps the pace fast and puts an emphasis on visual spectacle. He especially has fun showcasing the endless string of explosions (those are the red pegs, for those playing along at home).

Nothing in the script by the sibling tandem of Jon and Erich Hoeber (Red) is meant to be taken seriously, but nobody told the cast, including Neeson, who seems to treat his role with the same gravity he employed in Schindler’s List.

Kitsch, meanwhile, was more effective as an action hero in John Carter, perhaps because he had fewer lines of dialogue. Pop star Rihanna, incidentally, makes her big-screen debut as an officer in Hopper’s crew.

The film delivers a few adrenaline-fueled, effects-driven thrills in an effort to distract audiences from the story. But while it provides some stimulation for the eyes and ears, the brain gets the shaft, especially during a ridiculous flag-waving finale.

In the spirit of the source material, Battleship is a miss.

Rated PG-13, 131 minutes.