Movie Review - Skyline

If this movie were to leak out to outer space, we’d practically be inviting alien lifeforms to take over – seeing how easy it is to destroy planet Earth.

The story is hardly original, and the plot was barely there. What made previous alien invasion blockbuster Independence Day, a blockbuster, was that the storyline followed a group of intelligent and influential human beings – the President of United States, genius scientists and a Marine captain. In Skyline instead, the story line follows a bunch of witless idiots hiding out in an apartment as the aliens attack.

The movie starts off with a group of friends, passed out after a late night of partying, awakening to a bright blue light outside their windows. Finding that they cannot drag their eyes away from the beautiful blue lights, one of them gets sucked straight out into the skies, where the source of lights are from. A heroic attempt to find out what is happening outside, friends Jarrod and Terry go up to the roof to see countless alien lifeforms attacking the city.

I’d have to say Skyline is a boy’s movie. Which boy wouldn’t be exhilarated by the fact that you get a first-hand view of a cool alien invasion from your penthouse window? The effects are in fact very impressive. The spaceships were frightfully cool, and the vein popping effects looked disgustingly real. The aliens were so terrifying and realistic – the majestic alien invasion effects can almost give War Of The Worlds a run for their money.

However, the disappointment was in the ridiculous cast. For goodness sakes, I wouldn’t expect more than a B-grade slasher film from comedic actor Donald Faison of Scrubs and Brittany Daniel, a frequent face from the Wayans Brothers movies.

To make matters worse, the main characters were played by newbies Eric Balfour and Scottie Thompson, who must have skipped a whole lot of acting classes. The exaggerated expressions and the over dramatized acting (Yes, too dramatic even for an alien invasion!) actually brought out hysterical giggles from cinema audiences. I don’t think the directors, brothers Colin and Greg Strause intended for Skyline to be comedic, but believe me, you’ll find yourself laughing more than you find yourself worrying about the safety of humankind.

The only savior of the show was seasoned actor David Zayas, known from the TV series Dexter. Ever the action hero, Zayas brought the most charisma on screen. It was a pity they did not choose to cast him as the main lead. If it weren’t for him, I’d be rooting for the aliens to finish them humans off - faster!