Skyline

Cinema Release

Skyline is a return to the good old days of alien invasion films but with the very best in special effects. There are great ships, all manner of strange smaller craft and horrific creatures. It is, however, different from many Hollywood alien movies in that it removes the loud military message and replaces it with a focus on a small group of individual trying to survive within a tower block. It gives little detail as to how the aliens are or what they want, indeed you own realize what they are doing with the bodies they collect a fair way into the film.

Arriving in Los Angeles to visit old friend/hip-hop partner Terry (Donald Faison), Jarrod (Eric Balfour) and girlfriend Elaine (Scottie Thompson) are immediately impressed with his high end apartment. It is Terry’s birthday and they party the night away with the mandatory interpersonal crisis including Elaine revealing she is pregnant and Terry offering Jarrod a job and asking him to return to L.A.

Early in the morning something strange occurs; blue lights appear in the night sky which look a bit like ball lightning and fall towards earth. As they shine through the blinds of the apartment they burn or brand those whom they touch and places them under some sort of control. Each of the contactees are then beamed up into the craft. One of their guests is taken but luckily for Jarrod he is pulled back just in time but not because quite a long exposure, something which proves very significant at the conclusion of the film.

As the bluelights collect up vast numbers of humans for processing, large ships appear in the sky releasing vast numbers of smaller crafts which seem to be semi-organic. These “monster like” craft attack the city Godzilla style crushing buildings and searching for organic matter to consumer. An attempt to escape is made but with disastrous results and the tension created as the small group try and survive in the small apartment is impressive. Since Jarrod has been somehow changed by the aliens he is able to battle against them and there are some great one-on-one battles.

This is a film with many obvious influences, from Independence Day to H.G. Wells War of the Worlds, even lesser known films such as From Beyond have influenced scenes such as the “brain gobbling sequences”. While it may play homage to many sci fi films Skyline does so in a very energetic manner and ends up as a very fast paced sci fi monster film with lots of interesting elements. It is also a very dark film with the majority of the heroic figures being killed and this is unusual for a mainstream sci fi release. The ending, while obviously a setup for a sequel, is well thought out and very different from what one would expect.

Skyline is a very different science fiction film and stands out from the majority of films currently on the big screen. I highly recommend it.

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