So I put on Skyline. The stage was set with a few cast members, and my hopes raised a little. You see, Scottie was familiar to me from the TV show Trauma--which I only ever watched over my wife's shoulder, I swear! Eric was familiar to me from a movie called Lie to Me which I watched when I was testing out Netflix on a Friday evening--given the subject matter of the flick, the timing was appropriate. Then there's Donald. Man did he let me down. I mean, this is Petey! From Remember the Titans! "Running back y'all, THE running back." Aside from Donald, the acting talent seemed to be stacked in the movie's favour.
The film started with a 15 minute aside, at the conclusion of which my wife and I wondered why they even bothered. It's largely comparable to Cloverfield, but Cloverfield never had an ad nausea scene that apparently "set the stage." From there we progressed into the sci fi story we were expecting.
The effects were well done about 80% of the time, ignoring the annoying lens-flare effect they applied throughout most of the film. I've always hated blue LEDs, and this movie seems to be an example of why I don't like them, even if it was an 'effect' in the film. :)
Fairly typical story arcs like strangers joining the group of protagonists only to be killed 5 minutes later occurred more than once. There was a scene in the middle of the film that was a time lapse displayed in about 3-5 minutes, yet it probably required hours of recording to make. From an artistic stand point I enjoyed that scene.
The film's conclusion was a bit of a saving grace. It included a lot of believable special effects and an endearing, if hopeless, premise. All things considered the movie would have rocked as an episode of The Outer Limits, but falls short as a feature length film.
No comments:
Post a Comment