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Skyline
| Released |
12 November 2010 |
| Director |
Colin Strause, Greg Strause |
Starring
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Donald Faison, Eric Balfour, Scottie Thompson, David Zayas, Brittany Daniel |
| Writer(s) |
Joshua Cordes, Liam O'Donnell |
Producer(s)
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Kristian James Andresen, Liam O'Donnell, Colin Strause, Greg Strause |
| Origin |
United States |
| Running Time |
94 minutes |
| Genre |
Sci-fi, thriller |
| Rating |
15A |
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Stay away from the light!
Colin and Greg Strause go collectively by the moniker of “The Brothers Strause”. They’re the latest in the trend, started by Joel and Ethan Coen, of brothers co-directing films. There’s the Hughes Brothers, the Wachowski brothers, the Spierig Brothers and now this pair. All told, they are very respected in the visual effects world and they’ve also helmed a load of music videos. However, their only previous feature as directors was the distinctly unloved Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem.
With Skyline they’re out to use their visual effects expertise again. It’s basically a ‘B movie’ with a ‘B movie’ cast of TV actors, presumably so that most of the budget can be spent on the effects. So there are plenty of familiar faces in Eric Balfour from 24, David Zayas from Dexter and Donald Faison from Scrubs. Balfour plays Jarrod who is in Los Angeles with his girlfriend Elaine (Scottie Thompson) visiting his old college buddy Terry (Faison). Terry is a successful businessman and lives in a swanky apartment complex with his high maintenance girlfriend Candice (Brittany Daniel).
After a night of hard partying, the group are awoken in the middle of the night by a bright blue light. At this point it’s probably best to stop describing the plot but suffice to say it involves some badass aliens and an ever-decreasing number of survivors. The story is hugely derivative and steals from sci-fi films like Independence Day, War of the Worlds, Cloverfield and (in its ending) District 9. You do get the sense that the filmmakers aren’t particularly interested in the storyline though, they just want to show off their visual effects skills, and they are, admittedly, quite good.
The same can’t really be said about the script however, which is workmanlike at best. None of the actors can really do much with it and hence, you do find yourself waiting impatiently for them to be picked off. Perhaps it’s the presence of all the TV actors but it has the feel of a high-class TV movie rather than a proper feature.
It’s passable enough entertainment to kill an hour and a half or so, but its utter lack of originality means it won’t be remembered like most of the films it steals from.
- Jim O’Connor |
