When reflecting upon "Annapolis," the latest underdog-goes-to-military-school snooze, the first thing that comes to mind is nothing from the actual film, but rather those extravagant ads from the U.S. Army created to attract young, hip, MTV-watching youth. The ads are classically heroic, spastic, loud and obnoxious depictions of the armed forces - and the movie is little more than a tedious exercise in smashing these images together into one large, incoherent piece.

The film follows Jake Huard (James Franco, "Spider-Man 2"), an attractive, diligent, determined young man with aspirations of becoming something bigger, better and bolder than his roots.

So, of course, he goes to the most prestigious military school he can find. Even after he gets in, the odds are against him: After all, he's just a townie, with bad grades and a hot head. He won't quit though, because he's dreamed of coming to the academy since his deceased mother took him there as a child, and so on and so forth. You know, a completely original character we've never seen before in the dozen-films-a-year underdog genre.

But grizzled Lieutenant Cole (Tyrese Gibson, "Four Brothers") personally sees to it that Huard has a rough time because he's just "not fit for the Navy," or so he constantly bellows.

Soon Huard learns to accept that he needs help from others sometimes. He learns that you can achieve anything you want if you put your mind to it. He fights with his father because, well, they're poorly drawn working-class stereotypes. Huard even falls for a commanding officer, played with grinning idiocy by Jordana Brewster ("D.E.B.S."). If these plot points sound familiar, it's because they've all been done to death.

And if it all seems schizophrenically plotted, that's because the story points just come in and out for no reason. In the end, the film is little more than a series of unconnected, hyper-actively edited montages, showing how Huard develops into a heavyweight boxer (his actual abilities as a Midshipmen, however, get no real a screen time). This all leads to an exciting showdown with commander Cole. By that point, can we really be expected to care?

Between this, "Big Momma's House 2" and "Underworld: Evolution," it's a shame that all the award-winning films out around this time of year don't make more well deserved money. "Annapolis" is throwaway disaster, utilizing many capable resources to a completely incompetent end.

Shame should be placed on the film's director, Justin Lin, for selling out so quickly. The promising up-and-comer behind the powerful and daring "Better Luck Tomorrow" has all-too-quickly embraced the Hollywood crap factory. "Better Luck Tomorrow" was a harsh, specific, brilliantly manipulated look at teen angst. Now, Lin will be the director of "Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" this summer. To abandon all hope so soon seems a bit premature, but with no signs of life coming anytime soon for the young filmmaker, a grim outlook seems to be on the horizon.

Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

At the Showcase and Quality 16