Blu-Ray Review: Ineffective ‘Skyline’ Goes For Thrills, Just Bores

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CHICAGO – When did they start releasing SyFy Channel Original Movies in theaters? Seriously, we can accept bad writing and cheap production values on a Saturday night on basic cable but “Skyline” was a national theatrical release and the thing just looks goofy. After the massive success of “District 9,” cheap sci-fi seems to be the trend of the day, but we’re likely to see more junk than Best Picture nominees if “Skyline” is any example.

Blu-Ray Rating: 2.0/5.0

There’s something almost charmingly simple about “Skyline.” What would the alien apocalypse look like to one apartment building? Breaking down the global (or universal) into a few human stories has long been a hallmark of quality sci-fi and the premise had the potential for Carpenter-esque thrills. What would you do if the rest of Los Angeles was being sucked up into machines from outer space?

The problem with “Skyline” is that in order for films like it to work, the characters need to be as interesting as the set-up. We need to give a damn if the apartment dwellers turn into interstellar fish food and that just never happens this time around. Eric Balfour (“24”) is particularly dull and, except for a truly fantastic death scene, Donald Faison (“Scrubs”) is miscast. The writers tried to add little character details like an unexpected pregnancy but none of the personalities register (except perhaps for David Zayas of “Dexter,” always a welcome presence).

Skyline was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on March 22nd, 2011
Photo credit: Universal Home Video

The special effects of “Skyline” can be cleverly deceptive in that there aren’t really that many of them — not for modern sci-fi — until the final act insanity. Most of the film takes place in apartments as blue lights and chaos goes on outside. When the alien ships are seen, they’re a bit too cheaply-designed to be effective and the creatures of the final act look kind of silly. They often don’t seem to share the same space as the character or buildings, like so many SyFy special effects. And so the threat never feels real. And the lack of many interesting action pieces or suspenseful moments — most of the drama happens off-camera — keeps the film from even developing interest even for B-movie fans. And the less said about the end, the better. To be blunt, it’s ridiculous and will leave most of you angry.

The fact is that I’m a B-movie fan. I love cheesy dialogue and silly sci-fi movies. But “Skyline” just isn’t fun enough to be a quality B-movie. It’s too forgettable. Actually, I’d rather watch most SyFy Original Movies.

Special Features:
o Feature Commentaries with the Filmmakers
o Deleted and Extended Scenes
o Alternate Scenes
o Pre-Visualization
o D-Box Enabled
o BD Live Enabled
o Pocket Blu

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com