[Review] Skyline - 17th of December

★★★ - Poor [For rating system, see information tab at the top of blog]
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Release Date: 12th November 2010
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Directors: Colin Strause & Greg Strause
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Writers: Joshua Cordes & Liam O'Donnell
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Cast: Eric Balfour - Scottie Thompson - Brittany Daniel - Crystal Reed - Neil Hopkins

Review

After watching the trailer for 'Skyline' I, along with many people, was really looking forward its release. However the viewing of it proved to be a real disappointment. It does not differ from many of the other apocalypse films already produced and is possibly the worst I have seen. 

The narrative construction of the film is weak, rushed and predictable. The party scene at the beginning aimed at familiarising the audience with the characters, but ended up being very clichéd at an almost ‘teen drama’ level. It then moves straight to the imminent attack from the Aliens. This structure is standard, but here seems to happen too quickly without the build up of any suspense - almost like two films have been tied together, with no real thought having been put into how to develop the storyline in a manner that works. 

In addition to this, there seems to be very little chemistry between the cast, each giving weak performances individually, and uncomfortable performances as a group. This, combined with the aforementioned problems over the structure of the narrative, contribute to its failure. The acting is generally second rate, and instead of constructing believable scenes of panic and emotion, we are left feeling irritated by the dialogue and actions. 

The film was naturally very focused on the Special Effects, Sound and CGI and some would argue this dominated the film resulting in weak casting, performances and narrative. However the film does use these techniques to produce a reasonable standard of special effects but not in any spectacular way. Though some would not agree, the benchmark for CGI and Effects in major motion pictures was set by James Cameron's 'Avatar', and unfortunately, ‘Skyline’ does not come close to creating this level of inventiveness. ‘Skyline’ aimed to be an exciting Sci-fi/action film, and unfortunately failed to impress on any level.