SKYLINE
2010
PG-13
You can watch the trailer here
PG-13
You can watch the trailer here
When I had seen the original trailer for Skyline, words could not describe the level of excitement that I had felt. It had painted a haunting picture of a movie that could have had incredible potential. At the same time, it really didn't give anything away, and I started to think that it could be this year's District 9. Then, a second trailer (link given above) was released, and it gave a little more information about the film. In my mind, it gave too much. All of my excitement quickly dissipated as I waited for a film that looked to mirror the War of the Worlds remake. Oh, what I wouldn't give to have simply watched that movie today.
The basic story behind Skyline, which was directed by Colin Strause and Greg Strause, goes a little bit like this: bright lights start to descend on Los Angeles, and these lights draw people towards them before seemingly making them disappear. We find out later that it draws them into a stupor that allows them to be sucked into an alien ship hovering overhead. A small band of friends try to survive the alien invasion. Honestly, that's really about it.
I would love to be able to talk about the film's screenplay, but it really didn't have one. We see the lights and the ships; we see people being sucked into the sky; we see one friend after another die in a slightly different way than the previous one; we see military operations; we see more military operations; we see acceptance. But there's no story arc. There's absolutely nothing to follow. It's just a bunch of random people running around, and we have absolutely no reason to care about these people.
Actually, I should take that back. The film does try to give us reason to care. At key moments in the film, the filmmakers attempt to shove emotion onto the viewer using a few key concepts: loss of a best friend, girlfriend is actually pregnant, etc. But by the time these things happen, they've already lost the audience.
I could talk about the acting, but it's really just terrible all around. You can look up the actors if you'd like, but I'd rather not publicly humiliate them here.
I do have to say one thing: the special effects were fantastic. The filmmakers successfully created an original alien (although some forms of it slightly resembled the aliens in Independence Day), and the ships themselves were extremely intricate. The film is visually stunning; I do have to give it that.
Unfortunately, it seems as though the filmmakers chose to spend their entire budget on those special effects rather than invest the time and the resources to craft an equally good storyline and hire a cast of decent actors. Sadly, it seems that more and more big-budget films are going the route of "let's wow you with special effects before satisfying your need for substance." Here's looking at you, Avatar.
The basic story behind Skyline, which was directed by Colin Strause and Greg Strause, goes a little bit like this: bright lights start to descend on Los Angeles, and these lights draw people towards them before seemingly making them disappear. We find out later that it draws them into a stupor that allows them to be sucked into an alien ship hovering overhead. A small band of friends try to survive the alien invasion. Honestly, that's really about it.
I would love to be able to talk about the film's screenplay, but it really didn't have one. We see the lights and the ships; we see people being sucked into the sky; we see one friend after another die in a slightly different way than the previous one; we see military operations; we see more military operations; we see acceptance. But there's no story arc. There's absolutely nothing to follow. It's just a bunch of random people running around, and we have absolutely no reason to care about these people.
Actually, I should take that back. The film does try to give us reason to care. At key moments in the film, the filmmakers attempt to shove emotion onto the viewer using a few key concepts: loss of a best friend, girlfriend is actually pregnant, etc. But by the time these things happen, they've already lost the audience.
I could talk about the acting, but it's really just terrible all around. You can look up the actors if you'd like, but I'd rather not publicly humiliate them here.
I do have to say one thing: the special effects were fantastic. The filmmakers successfully created an original alien (although some forms of it slightly resembled the aliens in Independence Day), and the ships themselves were extremely intricate. The film is visually stunning; I do have to give it that.
Unfortunately, it seems as though the filmmakers chose to spend their entire budget on those special effects rather than invest the time and the resources to craft an equally good storyline and hire a cast of decent actors. Sadly, it seems that more and more big-budget films are going the route of "let's wow you with special effects before satisfying your need for substance." Here's looking at you, Avatar.
Movie Review Summary:
Grade: F
Current All-Time Rank: Worst - #34
Thumb... DownAddition to "Best" Awards
Grade: F
Current All-Time Rank: Worst - #34
Thumb... DownAddition to "Best" Awards
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