Battleship

We watched this movie as it looked a little more child friendly than the Transformers movies, which seem to contain subtexts completely unsuitable for younger children. Whilst this movie also has its fair share of violence, it gave us more to talk about than most films we've seen recently. And that's possibly because it's one of the most satirical 'brain dead' action movies we've seen. The aliens are the good guys, the humans are the bad guys. The humans react with violence to every perceived aggression by the aliens without stopping to think about what is actually happening. The lead human character (and almost all the human captains for that matter) is dangerously impulsive and these impulses lead to a human instigated war, and is certainly not the role model that the common sense media summary makes him out to be. The aliens for their part, only react defensively and appear to take large steps to prevent endangerment to life. In fact, my oldest child wanted to stop watching it because it felt to him as if it were glorifying the destruction of a peaceful species that had simply sought refuge and contact. Instead they were met with destruction. These were complex themes that allowed us to talk about reflecting on our actions before acting, the consequences of dealing with situations with immediate violence, the danger that comes with assuming you're always the 'good guy' and also about how stories can have deeper meanings that aren't always clear. So in summary, on the surface it's a Navy recruitment video where the good guys save the Earth from the dastardly aliens, but in reality it's about stupid humans who can't think properly, committing a genocide against a peaceful alien species. It's Transformers via Spec Ops: The Line.