'Battleship' Trailer - Who Needs Character Development When You Have Explosions?

Taylor Kitsch's John Carter may not quite have been the blockbuster hit that he and Disney were hoping for, but the star will take a second stab at leading a major action franchise when Peter Berg's Battleship hits this summer. Inspired by the Hasbro game, the film stars Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgard, Rihanna, and Liam Neeson as naval officers dealing with an otherwordly force that threatens to destroy our planet. The new trailer downplays the plotlines and character moments we glimpsed in earlier trailers, choosing instead to dive right in to expensive, explosive Transformers-style action. Watch it after the jump.

Part of me still thinks the very idea of a Battleship-based movie is ridiculous, but I have to admit this doesn't look bad. If you're into this kind of mindless but splashy action flick — and I don't mean that as a judgment; they can be fun — Battleship seems to fit the bill as well as any other in the genre. Plus, I love the idea of a mini-Friday Night Lights reunion, with Berg, Kitsch, and Jesse Plemons all on board.

Also starring Brooklyn Decker and Asano Tadanobu, Battleship hits May 18.

Synopsis:

Peter Berg (Hancock) produces and directs Battleship, an epic-scaled action-adventure that unfolds across the seas, in the skies and over land as our planet fights for survival against a superior force. Inspired by Hasbro's classic naval combat game, Battleship stars Taylor Kitsch as Lt. Alex Hopper, a Naval officer assigned to the USS John Paul Jones; Brooklyn Decker as Sam Shane, a physical therapist and Hopper's fiancee; Alexander Skarsgard as Hopper's older brother, Stone, Commanding Officer of the USS Sampson; Rihanna as Petty Officer Raikes, Hopper's crewmate and a weapons specialist on the USS John Paul Jones; and international superstar Liam Neeson as Hopper and Stone's superior (and Sam's father), Admiral Shane.