Review: Get Ready to Press Skip On SKYLINES
Alien invasion movies can offer a lot of unique and interesting elements: unique aliens, a diverse cast, and a variety of dramatic situations. But being the third entry in a mediocre alien invasion franchise really starts to show the B-Movie quality. Skylines is a fairly generic sci-fi movie with a group of forgettable characters and confusing plot points which culminate into a below-average film.
The story itself actually felt somewhat unique. Having the aliens steal the brains of humans to power pilot’s suits and then their human consciousness becomes restored in the alien bodies making a human and alien resistance group is interesting...and excessively complicated. The first few minutes of the movie cover the last two movies in a terribly edited segment that is a giant exposition dump that still leaves some things left unanswered. Even after all that setup, the actual plot of this film made little sense. By the end of the film, you understand about 70% of what’s happening and be left with a bad conclusion that is convoluted at best. One more thing, if you’re trying to make a sci-fi film about venturing into an unknown alien planet on a tight budget, don’t fill it with a pointless subplot on earth about characters and events that serve no purpose. It’s safe to say if you’re going to watch this film to not worry about the plot.
The aliens themselves seem to be done mostly by practical effects and suits, which were surprisingly effective. But as soon as CG is introduced, the reality of the world gets tossed to the side. Some scenes were fine and passable, while others looked like bad YouTube videos. I understand budget constraints, especially for a smaller film like this, but directors, writers, and producers could have made some better choices on when and where to spend money on special effects.
Along with the confusing plot and mediocre to awful visuals, the characters and acting were horrendous. The supporting cast felt about as generic as humanly possible: a team of specialists with predictable personalities that know how to blow things up, be stealthy, and shoot things well. “Leading” them was a protagonist who has no real defining or redeeming qualities. Even her powers were lackluster and limited, and all she did was complain about it or use it as an excuse to fail to act many times, causing many people to die. I didn’t care at all about any of the characters and didn’t bat an eye when any of them died.
Skylines attempts to make an interesting alien infiltration movie. It uses about every single sci-fi trope imaginable while adding nothing new to the equation. My recommendation is that if you have a few hours to kill, go do some laundry or re-watch an old film instead of this.
