If you knew of a thing called “Science”, you would know that the “smoke rings” are the aliens version of Airbrakes. They were traveling from space at a speed that would disintegrate their ships if they struck the water, so they needed to decrease their speed.

On the character development, I couldn’t agree more. The concept was cool, the effects were cool, but every time someone was killed or did something heroic, it was hard to even tell who it was, let alone care.