Skyline

Stop me if you heard this before. Aliens invade earth and a handful of survivors try to escape their impending deaths.

It's another War of the Worlds-esque invasion flick but what's nice about this is that it's played straight with no comedic one-liners and there's not a teenager in sight.

Directors Colin Strause and Greg Strause are no strangers to special effects after bringing to life the Predators and Aliens in AVPR (2007) and the rest of the team behind Skyline's extraterrestrials are clearly talented making the best out of a budget. It's visually wonderful, the special effects are fantastic. Nevertheless, Aliens (1986) designers and suit wearers Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr. creature designs appear to be an unoriginal mix of The Fly, Independence Day, Cloverfield and The Matrix.

The acting is above average and the leads including Eric Balour and Brittany Daniel carry the emotion well. David Zayas is notable as the Hotel manager but his screen time is limited. That said, the script lacks enough meaty dialogue to keep you enthralled and you find yourself waiting for more glimpses and shenanigans of the alien invaders.

Overall, it looks great but it fails to connect and grip you as much as it should. Even so it's a lot better than critics would lead you to believe and recommended to those who don't need a stereotype hero lead, Skyline 2 is more than welcome. The Brothers Strause will hit gold but Skyline just isn't it.

Just saw an advance screening of this new sci-fi would be epic and although I won't give away too much of the plot (as wafer thin as it is)I will say the conclusion has shades of District 9, looks to be there for a Skyline part 2. After a gleaming light blankets over Los Angeles one random morning @430am, it lures people outside. Looking directly into the light causes a dire effect which is part of the problem. None of that is explained. Eric Balfour is a good looking leading man, pity his chiseled features out weigh his acting ability. However in his defence, the script sucks, I could write a better one over breakfast. The special effects are certainly effective for the most part. My favourite moments are when the bad boy aliens are on the attack against Stealth jets and the view from the rooftops are outstanding visuals. The trailer was certainly interesting and the film simply doesn't back up the premise. War of the worlds and Independence Day have had a baby, it's called SKYLINE. Worth a look, it's a good sci-fi curiosity and the female leads are all gorgeous which helps matters with such a soft screenplay.

The movie is an entertaining ride for the most part as long as you go into the movie prepared for something that will have no unique characters or a decent script. - I saw the movie fully expecting a bad script, characters I wouldn't like, no artful directing, and a plot that fails to do anything new or interesting. But I allowed myself to be entertained by it as a simple piece of sci-fi/monster action! This is what you must do if you go to see it!!

I was mostly inspired to do this review because I think the film doesn't deserve some of the really nasty 2/10 reviews I have seen.

Basically the aliens and each confrontation against them are generally exciting and save the film. Considering the film was made on quite a small budget they did a great job with the effects. I think fans of video games like the RESISTANCE series or HALF LIFE should be able to enjoy it a bit more than most.

A lot of people have been to harsh on this film, it is clear from the trailer this is just another alien invasion movie. Anyone who watches it expecting a modern sci-fi classic like District 9 will be disappointed - so don't do that.

Basically if you are unsure about seeing the film but enjoy sci-fi/monster movies for nothing but quick entertainment you should get something out of it.

First, let's work on some maths: "Skyline" is an alien invasion flick that has a touted US$10 million budget! This amount is a shoestring for an alien attack film - it is not even enough to pay the salary of an A-list star! So now you can do the maths and understand why there are no big stars here.

If you had seen the trailer you might have been impressed by the CGI effects of the tentacled UFOs. This is probably where all the money have gone. Everything else, from its lame script and B-grade TV stars to its sets, are all hotch-potch and downright rudimentary. It is an exploitation film that seems destined for DVD.

Synopsis: After a night of heavy partying at a posh condo in Los Angeles, a bunch of friends are awakened in the early hours by mysterious beams of light from the skyline. Those who gaze on the light get entranced - like moths to a flame and get 'burnt up'. Yup, the alien ships have landed and the survivors at the condo unit, Jarrod (Eric Balfour) and his fiancée (Scottie Thompson, pictured below with Balfour), and their friends Terry (Donald Faison of TV's "Scrubs") and Candice (Brittany Daniel) must find a way to escape the aliens' grasp. But where can they run? There are so many things wrong with the movie that I don't know where to begin. The film, directed by the Brothers Strause who did the effects for "The X-FIles", centres the action inside the condo unit so much that we get the impression that LA is deserted and the only folks left are those in the half-empty building. No attempt is made to show the scope of the 'body snatching' and its effects on the millions of other city-dwellers.

Next, the main characters are being portrayed as such selfish and unsavoury people that we root for the aliens to take them away. This may be because the writers have not bothered to flesh out their backgrounds, except for a few predictable turns. The only one who comes on as real is David Sayas (of TV's "Dexter" fame) who plays the building supervisor. Also, the dialogue is lame and clichéd. The writers must have had the notion that audience interest can be sustained if they have the characters yell at one another.

There's no doubt that Strause brothers provide exhilarating special effects - but they need to work on getting a good story to go with their CGI magic. Otherwise it is just a damn waste.

I don't think Skyline is a bad movie as such. While there were better movies from 2010 such as The King's Speech, The Social Network, The Fighter and Toy Story 3, there are also worse such as Fred:The Movie, The Last Airbender, Vampires Suck and Clash of the Titans.

Skyline is not a good movie, but it isn't in my opinion bad either. If anything, my feelings for Skyline are very mixed. I have seen some comparisons to Battle:Los Angeles, and I do agree this is the better movie, while Skyline did have a lot of problems Battle:Los Angeles was clichéd, under-directed and over-edited and other than Aaron Eckhart, a decent idea and one or two decent scenes there was little of redeeming value.

Starting with the good things of Skyline, the visuals look absolutely great. The cinematography and editing are slick, the scenery is striking and the colours and lighting are bold, but the real star is the special effects which are superb. The sound is another plus, very explosive and authentic, and the soundtrack is memorable, not too generic and fits decently with the mood. Also, the action in general is explosive and exciting.

Skyline does also have its flaws though. The characters are not as clichéd or indifferent as those of Battle:LA and some of the worst of the year, but to be honest I did find some of the characterisation underdeveloped and irritating. The dialogue is often cheesy and seems to be taking an exercise in high camp, and the climax while quite freaky and atmospheric feels like a different tone to the rest of the movie and this was a tone that jarred a bit. The story in its structure is quite soap-opera-like, and can get predictable and pedestrian, the direction is sometimes good sometimes flat and the acting is also uneven ranging from over-eager to bland.

All in all, Skyline was not a bad movie in my opinion, certainly not as bad as I'd heard, but it is a hardly exceptional movie either. 5/10 Bethany Cox