Skyline (2010) Movie Review

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Skyline (2010) Movie Review

Nix November 12, 2010

“Skyline”, from the brothers Strause, is the second alien invasion movie to come down the pipe this year, following in the footsteps of Gareth Edwards’ “Monsters”. It will be followed in the next few years by “Battleship” from Peter Berg and “Battle: Los Angeles” from Jonathan Liebesman. And that’s not counting the half dozen or so other alien invasion movies already under development for 2012 and beyond. I must admit that I had high expectations for “Skyline”, which may be my fault, because the finished product, while entertaining enough, left me feeling very unfulfilled. Rumor has it the Strauses are already at work on “Skyline 2”, which makes sense given the cliffhanger ending of the movie. Of course, “working” on a sequel and making it happen is not the same thing; mostly, though, the possibility of a “Skyline 2” will depend entirely on the box office returns for “Skyline”.

As “Skyline” opens, aliens have already begun harvesting humans up into their gigantic ships, using glowing blue light to lure victims into a stupor before, well, literally sucking them into the skies. But wait, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. The film flashes back to earlier in the day, with couple Jarrod (Eric Balfour, currently lounging around the SyFy Channel’s “Haven”) and Elaine (Scottie Thompson) arriving in L.A. to attend the birthday bash of Jarrod’s old buddy Terry (Donald Faison, late of TV’s “Scrubs”). Also attending: Terry’s business pal Ray (Neil Hopkins), high-maintenance girlfriend Candace (Brittany Daniel, “Joe Dirt”), and Terry’s assistant with benefits, Denise (Crystal Reed). Lurking in the background is building manager Oliver (David Zayas, “The Expendables”) in his spiffy yellow vest.

The partygoers eventually wake up early in the morning the next day as the alien attack begins. Ray is the first victim, with Jarrod next if not for the quick thinking of Terry, who manages to wrestle him from the alien light. As huge alien ships descend from the skies to vacuum up the helpless citizenry of L.A., our five survivors struggle to remain calm. When an escape plan to the seas proves too deadly (and resulting in another casualty), the friends head back to Terry’s suite to wait out the invasion. Meanwhile, the military begins to fight back with mixed results. Will our plain Janes and Joes survive their harrowing ordeal? Or better question, maybe “Battle: Los Angeles” had it right when it decided to capture the alien invasion from the POV of a Marine battalion and not, you know, just a bunch of average people hiding out in an apartment suite.

Directed by Colin and Greg Strause (the brothers behind the bloody “Aliens vs. Predator”), “Skyline” looks and feels like a demo reel that some visual effects wizards put together in hopes of landing Hollywood studio work. With an estimated (and modest) $10 million dollar budget to work with (sofa change compared to what “Battle: Los Angeles” and “Battleship” are bringing to the table), the film’s first concern seems to be the effects. Fortunately, VFX also happens to be the specialty of the two sibling directors. (On a side note, the brothers are also VFX supervisors on Jonathan Liebesman’s “Battle: Los Angeles”, a fact that led to some legal issues between the two films.) Unfortunately, as well done and slick as the effects are, “Skyline’s” aliens never really feel real, though of course the fact that we’re seeing the entire invasion through the very limited view of Terry and his party guests doesn’t exactly help to “flesh” out the invaders.

Which leaves us with the characters. These aren’t exactly the best group of people to be trapped with during an alien invasion. The only really worthwhile character in the bunch is Terry, the bling-bling mogul with money to burn. Brittany Daniel has almost nothing to do in the film, but then again, neither does anyone else. The film’s main couple, Jarrod and Elaine’s one big plotline is that Elaine discovers she’s pregnant (don’t worry, this is very early in the film), but otherwise there isn’t any real chemistry between them. And oh yeah, they apparently have major trust issues, apparently. Of course, it doesn’t help that the script by Joshua Cordes and Liam O’Donnell isn’t exactly rocket science. The film’s conflicts border on the childish, and almost always involve a character backing another character, resulting in a third character feeling and looking hurt as a result. What is this, high school?

It never really occurred to me before, but setting the film inside an apartment skyscraper and following a bunch of average people was probably not the best approach to take in a movie about a massive alien invasion. We’re stuck with watching the characters running around trying to survive, while endless bickering takes place among them. The “who cares about these schmucks” meter rises noticeably when Zayas’ Oliver enters the picture. Apparently the insignificant building manager has been harboring a deep desire to be Top Dog, and finally gets his chance when the shit hits the fan. Of course, since Balfour’s Jarrod barely has a spine worth mentioning, it’s pretty easy for Oliver to take charge of things. Hell, I’m surprised he didn’t Alpha Male grunt his way into Candace’s pants, too.

The film does feature a couple of nifty set pieces, including a middle section where the military attempts to nuke the aliens out of the sky. Unfortunately that also reminds you that this film would have been so much better if the characters were soldiers instead of just people trapped in an apartment. Now imagine this same scene, but played out with a main character inside the cockpit of that nuke-carrying airplane, instead of having to watch it unfold from an apartment suite across the city and through a telescope. See the difference?

Colin Strause, Greg Strause (director) / Joshua Cordes, Liam O’Donnell (screenplay)
CAST: Eric Balfour … Jarrod
Scottie Thompson … Elaine
Brittany Daniel … Candice
Crystal Reed … Denise
Neil Hopkins … Ray
David Zayas … Oliver
Donald Faison … Terry

Here

Skyline has got to be the worst movie I have seen in 10 years or more. Don’t go.
- Racedriver495
  
  I agree. Its not even worth a rental though the iea had potential.
yeppers

scificool there is already green lantern footage online…see i could have already posted up an article about it…if you have given me a job or whatever as a site writer hahaha j/k
http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/DO7VIROVTHVCCW4LYUI4Z6CH5E Blue L

Just came from the theater. Saw Skyline. The volume blasted my ears so much that they’re still ringing an hour later. The movie had a plot but lacked any value in acting. The plot was the typical alien invasion thing. The aliens were convoluted composite monsters from all other alien movies I have seen. No originality.

I came out of there with the opinion that it was a a disgusting waste of time and money. The worst alien movie I have ever seen. I am a Sci Fiction Fan to boot.
Jeffchang0114

Just watched it, bad acting bad plot lines, plot holes… it felt like I was watching a movie on Scifi channel. II would take any two part Stargate episode over this disaster. The ending was horrible too, not because its a downer, but because it was just bad. Finally, the tactical nuke that they used seemed to be effective at damaging the aliens until it started to rebuild. So if they tactical nuke works why not use a ICBM or a repetitive nuclear strikes to destroy the alien craft beyond repair.
Wrjher

Overly harsh reviews. Only real bad thing about the movie was the ending. It felt as if it was a 4 hour movie cut in half, and left me really wanting to see the rest of it.
moto moto

wat the….just come back from d cinema…and what do i get, i think this movie is the worst movie related to alien i’ve ever watch….so, my advise don watch it ok…u’ve been warning…
jared

Just saw it. What it desperitly needed was a strong male lead like that guy from firefly. That knew common sense and had a plan or at least forward movement to accomplish something. By the end of film you start to root for the aliens and that’s sad.
Drailmunson

I went to see the movie expecting it to not be very good…….I still walked away thinking this was the stupidest movie I’ve ever seen!!!!! I implore you DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT EVER SUBJECT YOURSELF TO SKYLINE!!!!!!!!!
- Trt1919
  
  Totally agree…the absolute stupidest movie I have seen in a long time.
BachmanEnoch

Jeeze some people need to learn how to spell, Moto moto sounds like a retard……
- Danman27
  
  c’mon, don’t be an ass, it’s america-everybody is a retard
Natasha Drukova

Movie is watchable and also forgettable, like 90% of the other films your going to see this year, Terry (Donald Faison – Scubs) is the only decent actor, aliens seem to be indestructable which is annoying and the ending seems like the makers just gave up, especially as there are stills which appear as the end credits roll. it’s like heres a few pictures for you to work out what happens, it’s not a cliffhanger just a crap ending.
tenuk

agreed with everyone who says this movie is a waste of time of my life…feels like forever when the ending is such a pain in the ass. OMG. i want to kill u!!!
Jgutah

I completely disagree with everyone. I thought the movie was awesome! it gives a lot to think about in the possibilities of life elsewhere in the universe.
Megjur05

Jeez people..it’s not that bad! It’s a alien monster movie..not every movie has the greatness of District 9. Monsters attack..monsters eat people..government fight monsters..what are you expecting here???? A fun way to kill 90 minutes. Great..no way, but horrible..not really.
Zanebarefield

First off, def needs to be a number 2. The movie has a good story line if it had a more understanding as to what exactly the aliens were doing with the brain and spine. It seems like its a total extermination of the human race, but shouldn’t of left it hanging how it did, maybe show what was going to happen now that he was one of them with his own mind set. Why was he diff then the rest, maybe explain. and what could be next? looking forward to number 2. Cause we need to know how this anialation is going to end since there was a big time cliffhanger!
- Ravenangel51002
  
  i agree there needs to be a sequel. I thought it was pretty good….He was protecting her and the baby…i thought that was cool. He was different because he had the alien technology integrated into his brain…thus making him kind of a hybrid i guess. That’s what i think anyway. Did anyone happen to notice the invaders from mars poster in the bedroom at the beginning…hmmm….brains/mind control….ring a bell….. Anyways, i though it was good. I would see the sequel. And i have seen alot worse on syfy…
Alex

I thought it was great sci-fi entertainment. it didnt matter about the human characters, thats not what it was about. i want to see it again
Dizzyduck2

I just saw Skyline the other day. Waste of my time and my dates $. Its a cross between Independence Day and War of the Worlds……but not as good as either. A lot of holes in the plot and no strong leader of the group. Obviously, with the way the movie ends, “they” are thinking there will be a sequel. I hope not!
Joebug

i just went to see this movie with some friends. It was in my opinion a very poor movie. First, the whole story happened in the same place. And hate to break it to you but an apartment building is not the best place for a movie to go on. If it had happened on some sort of battle ship this movie would have been much more exciting. Also the whole time they were just trying to get out of the building. AND THEY NEVER EVEN DID! I felt like nothing ever happened in the movie except people were eaten an they sat around talking in terror…
some_rndm_dude

Ok.. To the people saying that this movie sucks, and that they never made it, What would you of done? I think this movie is kind of realistic, and not to drawn out. This movie kinda puts you in their place. If you where in a skyscraper, in the middle of a war, what would you do? lol The way they made the aliens look is pretty cool. Def something different. I would go and see it again. Its alot better than alot of the other crap that came out this year..
Caramba

Never seen such a boring alien invasion movie. And yes, the characters sucked big time, I wanted to punch every one of them in the face after 30 minutes (some earlier). If you have the “action” taking place mostly in the same four walls, you better have some darn good writing/dialogue.
Only one I was rooting for was the pilot of the aircraft (mentioned in the article), only to find out later that all the aircrafts in that attack were drones. The only, single scene that got me involved and rooting for someone, and there actually was nobody.
I was so hoping they would finally die in the end, and even that didn’t happen! Totally, utterly unsatisfying. I will watch the sequel only if they get tortured to death over ninety minutes.
You know what: Make that actual torture and death of the actors, directors and writers. They stole 90 minutes of the lives of thousands of people, if you add that up and take it back from them, they’d have nothing left anyway …
nat980

this movie reminds me of war of the worlds
Kiwigal2005

My God, what is the world coming to.
- Csully52
  
  capitolism, no more amazon, and total human exticntion wat else would it be coming to?
leeving

Absolute garbage. Steal the plot from night of the living dead.replace the zombies with indestructable aliens. Replace the farm house with Del Bocca Vista phase four. Replace sympathetic characters with card board hipster ganstas. Presto skyline. Crap,crap,crap.
Rims

I rather enjoyed the movie, the harvesting of the human race, the whole brain and brain stem bit.
I enjoy movies in which humanity gets put in it’s place.
After all we raise cattle, sheep and other animals for food, I must admit I enjoy a good steak, maybe their apetites are slightly different to ours.
Admittedly it had a few flaws, but hey I only saw it for a bit of mindless fun, aliens, humans getting culled by the millions, cool special effects etc.
I thought the nuke was a good effect, and I must admit I was not expecting it, let’s make most of LA unihabitable for a long time in the vain hope of killing some aliens.
By the way the snipers with the 50 cals. how about some laser guidance gear for missile guidance.
I think they did the right thing with the ending, because it left me wanting answers, hello sequel.
PsychoTony

I don’t care what anyone says this was a great movie. It has great special effects and good visuals. The acting was decent to me. It barrows a lot of elements from other movies but doesn’t totally rip them off. It’s called a TRIBUTE, people look it up. I think most people are being too harsh with this movie. It’s disgusting to me. This is NOT the worse movie of the year it’s one of the best. If I had to pick worse movie of the year it be “Legion”. 4/5 stars for Skyline. What we see in the movie could actually happen if aliens did invade “What If” people found themselves trapped in an apartment. How would they get out? Will they survive? Skyline is a good movie example to show us just what might happen if this really did occur.
Dex79

I think the movie is based on the Scientology belief that bad aliens will come to Earth and vacuum everyone up into their ships and supposedly later a another alien race will come to save us. All I know of this belief is from an episode from South Park. Can anyone confirm it for me?!? Maybe the writers for this movie and the sequel are basing the story on this belief and/or is backed up by the Scientology group by getting their ‘word’ out through the most effective news medium of today’s society to all age groups, Hollywood movies!~
Aleksandrik

What are you people complaining about? In reality if aliens landed here it would be exactly the same as shown in the movie, not some comedy shit like in Independence Day!
Ian Beesley

dunno about the brothers Straus.!!!… More like the brothers GRIM. Absolutly useless movie and a waste of my download bandwidth ( if id paid to go and watch this crap id have been really pissed ).. surely somebody must be able to write and direct a decent alien invasion movie.
Leylia Wolfe

I went and saw this movie with friends expecting the cleverly hollywood censored gore and a bunch of stereo typical movie marines with your badass rambo Sergent with no personality, a chicken shit side kick to back him up, and then a suposed “out of nowhere” eye candy lieutenant who always gets the useless annoying female lead with a photo-shopped ass who only ever makes everything else more difficult on the rest of the characters. The fact that Skyline didn’t have this improved the movie a great deal for me. With better directing this movie could have been a blockbuster but I understand why it didn’t turn out as well as it could have. The acting could have been better, the useless characters removed and the main characters and plot a little more fleshed out, but audiences need to stop expecting blood, guts, and hot fake marines. This same mind set is what killed Cloverfield a few years ago and made Avatar (which is the most stereotypical, shallow, and predictable movie I have seen in while) a box office hit. Stop expecting conformity and look for originality. If the ending shocks you and the drama nails you to the seat, then it’s a good movie.
Danman27

i agree wth mr. wolfe except that we humans are good for improvement (on most levels) and innovation and have always been pretty useless for complete origanality and totally un-thought of ideas.
Amirbee1

I like idea the end of our civilization… movie is ok.. hope for part2
Garcia, Portugal

Do not think so, I think the film is having an exaggerated criticism, particularly among people who dont like sci-fi and enjoy more the emotions and human interrelationships. The film is successful, transmits adrenaline, especially in parts where there is fighting back the invaders. The cast is a little cheap, but now we eat a lot worse movies and less criticism.

Is satisfactory, the path of good.
mrangry66

worst film ive ever seen the brain/brain stem part was stupid if your head popped open i wouldnt expect to see a blue brain man this film was shit, shitty acting shitty effects brothers strause cannot make a decent film!
Tihsetihwxusmabo

to anyone who thinks this movie is a piece of shit go watch twilight gayest piece of gay shit i ever seen since this movie
Karenaziz229

Notice anything familiar when watching the trailers for Battle: Lost Angeles. Big huge mechanical monster rising slowly admidst rubble and debris? Astonished reaction on the faces of the humans? People scrabbling admidst the rubble trying to escape? Key characters trying to save others? I thought it was a rerun of Skyline or the hoped for sequel of Skyline. The trailer is a total ripoff of Skyline. It will be interesting to see how this film is received and then compare the reaction to the reaction for Skyline. By the way, I still think Sklyine was a great and even revolutionary film. I bet this current film has a hero who rides in to save the day — just like every other alien invasion movie.
Little Alex

Just got finished watching Skyline on it’s new Netflix release. While I understand the concept of it being more a “night of the living dead” concept rather than the typical alien invasion flick, I cannot find myself liking it any better. The characters are worthless in every aspect and at points I found myself rooting for the aliens. Let’s see—take the best parts of Indepence Day, upgrade the aliens to Sentinels from The Matrix, add a twist of scene footage basically plagiarized from the War of the Worlds remake, sprinkle in a generous amount of special EFX to cover up the gaping plot holes and abracadabra! you got yourself another Hollywood piece of trash to use to overcharge the consumer. The brothers who made this should be ashamed of themselves but, not as much as the ignorant studio head who wasted the studio’s money on this junk. Thank you for allowing me to waste the past 1 1/2 hours of my time.
Davo

This was an awsome movie. Lets see an alien race comes light years away and in its past has not experienced nuclear threats amongs others, fight against primitive humans, for those who did not like it, you guys watch to many John Wayne, Will Smith movies. I find the plot totaly plausble. This movie left my daughter who is not particullaly into Sci Fi movies and myself at the edge of our seats. There are 1 or 2 actoes who could of been better, however as a whole, thimbs up. Graphic are great. See it. Come on sequel. No human heros in this movie. Basically if aliens would come this far, we’re screwed.
adawd

I thought it was pretty cool, wasnt predictable… it needs to continue to day seven… would be an awesome thing to put into seasons… for all the bad reviews this movie made an excellent amount of money regardless… I think it was different, who actually whines about a sci fis script… star wars has a terrible script, Alien doesnt exactly have the best script either… Sci Fis are normally about whats happening not whats being said… I liked it.. screw all the negatives.
Davem1977

Your all mad I thought it was great, skyline was an awesome flick, i thought it was as good as independance day, if not better and I loved it, they need to make a sequel if they haven’t already…. Loved it, loved it loved it :-))))