I'm really not sure how to review this movie. Skyline is one of those love it or hate it type of movies, and its hard to pinpoint exactly why its good or bad. I can address some of the movie's biggest flaws though.
Right off the bat, the biggest flaw is the story. The story is as minimal as possible, and this doesn't allow the viewer to feel for any of the characters because it just doesn't tell us anything. As the movie begins we see strange lights coming down to LA and it looks promising enough. The acting is very hammy as is immediately evident by the introduction of our main-characters who's names I can't even remember. They visit a friend, and from there on the movie almost feels like a soap for 15 minutes. We find out that the girl is pregnant, but as a viewer you just can't care for her situation because you barely even know these people.
After another few minutes of filler, the strange lights come down to the city and we see the opening again... Why? I suppose it was meant to be some sort of clever re-cap of what happened before the opening, but since the movie explains so little this just feels silly and tacked on. Then the alien spaceships begin invading earth which looks like something out of a video game-cutscene. Maybe people will say that it looks amazing in 3D, but I don't care. My policy is that a movie should do well in any format.
The best thing I can compare this movie to is Cloverfield, but still Cloverfield had more of a resemblance to a story then Skyline and the actors in Cloverfield were a lot more convincing as well. There is no explanation to why the aliens came to earth out of all planets, and apart from a clue at the end (which I'm not gonna spoil) its not very clear why they are harvesting human beings as well. At some points the action gets intense, but again this feels like you are watching something out of a video game.
Its not all hopeless though. The cinematography is alright, and the overall directing is okay. If the creators would've given me at least one shred of a storyline I could easily give this movie a much better rating. As it is, this is the kind of movie you rent at the videostore, you watch it with some buddies, and when you return the movie the next day you've already forgotten what it was about. Skyline is a movie for only the most die-hard of alien/monstermovie fanatics.
Right off the bat, the biggest flaw is the story. The story is as minimal as possible, and this doesn't allow the viewer to feel for any of the characters because it just doesn't tell us anything. As the movie begins we see strange lights coming down to LA and it looks promising enough. The acting is very hammy as is immediately evident by the introduction of our main-characters who's names I can't even remember. They visit a friend, and from there on the movie almost feels like a soap for 15 minutes. We find out that the girl is pregnant, but as a viewer you just can't care for her situation because you barely even know these people.
After another few minutes of filler, the strange lights come down to the city and we see the opening again... Why? I suppose it was meant to be some sort of clever re-cap of what happened before the opening, but since the movie explains so little this just feels silly and tacked on. Then the alien spaceships begin invading earth which looks like something out of a video game-cutscene. Maybe people will say that it looks amazing in 3D, but I don't care. My policy is that a movie should do well in any format.
The best thing I can compare this movie to is Cloverfield, but still Cloverfield had more of a resemblance to a story then Skyline and the actors in Cloverfield were a lot more convincing as well. There is no explanation to why the aliens came to earth out of all planets, and apart from a clue at the end (which I'm not gonna spoil) its not very clear why they are harvesting human beings as well. At some points the action gets intense, but again this feels like you are watching something out of a video game.
Its not all hopeless though. The cinematography is alright, and the overall directing is okay. If the creators would've given me at least one shred of a storyline I could easily give this movie a much better rating. As it is, this is the kind of movie you rent at the videostore, you watch it with some buddies, and when you return the movie the next day you've already forgotten what it was about. Skyline is a movie for only the most die-hard of alien/monstermovie fanatics.