Beyond Skyline

First of all, they should get the camera man to stop drinking so we can hold the camera steady. This new style of hand-held cameras is absolutely, and literally, nauseating. I I would like to say it I actually saw the film, but for 40% of it my eyes are closed just keep from puking on the guy in front of me.

The about beside the movie is extremely weak with no character development and it's highly unlikely that an advanced civilization of aliens as those depicted in the movie The Practice martial arts as too close to just vaporising the human beings. I am an absolute sci-fi geek, and willing to forgive a lot of things. But this movie fails on so many levels I wonder why I even spent the time watching it that I will never get back.

I gave it 5 Stars only for the reason that it has some good special effects. But even they were amateurish and I can only think that the camera movement was designed to disguise the poor quality of the CGI.

I can't say that I liked the movie, but I also can't say that I did not like it. Why ? Because there is a reason to like it and not to like it. I like it for the ambition put in this project, the hard work, the visuals, the actors and everything. There were parts from the alien scenery I really did like. Put I do not like the pile of plot holes that are everywhere in this movie and unlogical things that happen so often, it makes the movie even funny at some point. I gave it a 6 just because of the hard work, otherwise, 5/10

Maybe some minor spoilers here, but come on, what is there to spoil?

It's bad. How bad is it?

Well, the movie revolves around aliens who steal brains; it starts in LA, then there's about an hour escaping the alien mothership, then they land in Vietnam and everyone knows martial arts, including the aliens (you know, because, Asia). Yes, including the token female, who was a subway engineer at the beginning of the movie. It all wraps up in some kind of macho fantasy with fighting robots and some paper-thin inspirational boondoggles about human resilience. The action sequences are so silly that I just want them to get on with it... but when the action stops, attempts at character and story development are excruciating! Yea yea, the little girl is the key to the blah blah blah... turn this glowing blue orb into a glowing red orb...

I'm not saying you shouldn't watch it-you just have to know what you're getting into. I like bad movies. I like movies that try, but are still bad, like maybe they're not quite in on the joke (for that reason, I don't like movies like Sharknado, where everyone is in on it). That's this movie. It's a special kind of bad movie, that might just hit the spot if you're looking for something truly absurd.

...this being a sequel to 2010's Skyline. The first half of this film takes place simultaneously with the events of the first film, where LA residents try to survive a citywide alien invasion. This time we follow burn-out ex-cop Mark (Frank Grillo) and his JD son Trent (Jonny Weston) who are on the LA subway train when the invasion begins. They team with other passengers, including train operator Audrey (Bojana Novakovic) and blind Vietnam war vet Sarge (Antonio Fargas) to try and escape from the invaders. Later, after a trip on one of the alien spaceships leaves them stranded in Laos, our heroes join forces with Sua (Iko Uwais) and his underground drug cartel to fight back, while also protecting a mysterious child that may be the key to salvation.

The first film was a modestly successful low-budget affair with a B-movie sensibility and a polished look that belied the small budget. That film was made by the Strause brothers, special effects pros that did almost all of the films very good visual effects at their own homes with home computers. This sequel, which still has the Strause brothers as producers, looks just as sharp, although some shots suffer from being too brightly lit, allowing the FX work to be more obvious. While the first movie was a thriller, this one heads decidedly into action movie territory, with Grillo and Asian action star Uwais both getting into many a martial arts battle. The alien's backstory is explored more, as is the first film's silly reveal that the aliens are after human brains. That element becomes key to the story, and while it's no less silly, there's an attempt made to explain and justify it. Regardless, it doesn't bother me, as it adds to the B-movie appeal. I could have done with less giant robot suit fighting, an aspect added with this film, seemingly inspired by Pacific Rim. In the end, this is a reasonably entertaining B-movie with great visuals, cardboard characters and enough going on to hold one's attention.

Sufficed to say I wasn't impressed with Skyline (2010) it was a big dumb Hollywood sci-fi epic that wowed with cgi but was held together by a generic wafer thin plot.

This time starring the superior Frank Grillo we see a different group of people during the invasion and their desperate fight for survival.

Once again it's big, loud, cgi filled and fifty shades of dumb but it accomplishes exactly what it set out to do and manages to do it better than the first movie.

It's mostly loyal to the first film and even succeeds in expanding the mythology further, but honestly not all too well. The majority of the film is predictible, it's full of the usual tropes and cliches and like most Hollywood films plays it very very safe.

It has its moments but you need to remember this is a take your brain out and watch movie (Even more so than ever). If you decide to foolishly think about what you're watching you're in for a bad ride and almost certainly a migraine.

If you enjoyed the first movie you might have fun here, if you want something you need to put any level of thought into stay away.

The Good:

Looks the part

Frank Grillo

The Bad:

Lacks consistency with the first film in places

Recasting previous character

Some of the coincidences defy belief

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

If your son assaults someone it's fine if they knocked them out with one punch

Aliens aren't bulletproof however any human inside devoured won't be hit

Holding enemies off while your friends escape is a pointless sacrifice if you buy them 2 seconds

More movies need brain ripping action

No noise cuts through me more than that of a brat *Ahem* I mean darling child