Battleship (Cert 12, 125 mins) Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgard, Liam Neeson, Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker, Tadanobu Asano, Jesse Plemons. ***

Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch) is a dropout, whose antics on the Hawaiian island of Oahu reflect badly on his brother, Stone (Alexander Skarsgard), the captain of the USS Sampson. “It’s time for a new direction – you’re joining me in the Navy!” barks Stone. Alex is assigned to the USS John Paul Jones, under the watch of Vice Admiral Shane (Liam Neeson), who just happens to be the deeply disapproving father of his girlfriend, Samantha (Brooklyn Decker). During a series of competitive naval exercises, extra-terrestrial spacecraft crash-land in the Pacific. Inspired by the children’s board game of naval warfare, Battleship is a special effects-laden alien invasion blockbuster directed with testosterone-fuelled gusto by Peter Berg.

Lockout (Cert 15, 91 mins) Starring: Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, Vincent Regan, Joe Gilgun, Peter Stormare, Lennie James, Peter Hudson. ***

The year is 2079 and hard-bitten CIA Agent Snow (Guy Pearce) is caught in the crossfire of an undercover mission. Snow’s superior is killed, supposedly by the agent, and secret service goons Langral (Peter Stormare) and Shaw (Lennie James) secure a murder conviction, which carries a sentence of 30 years in stasis in the experimental maximum security prison MS One. Before Snow can slip into artificial slumber, trouble erupts on the orbiting prison. The president’s daughter, Emilie (Maggie Grace), is taken hostage during a breakout of the inmates. Lockout is predictable, half-baked hokum, which sentences us to 91 minutes of cat and mouse, bookmarked by fisticuffs and excess violence.