Skyline -- Hang around for the pretentious ending!!
Not really going to spend a whole lot of time on this movie since I don't want to put anyone off the alien attack genre since there seems to be a generally bad ass movie in Battle: Los Angeles coming out soon.
If you read anything about this movie while it was released in theatres... it probably wasn't good! I'm usually one to shun the critics advice and learn to hate a movie on my own. Now I didn't hate this movie...not the first 87 minutes or so at least.
What you get in Skyline is a nice War of the Worlds type movie. Granted in this case it's more along the lines of Earth: Ass Whoopin' 2010.
The effects are really what makes the movie fun and there are a ton of them. According to IMDB the film features over 800 VFX shots which are more than most franchise tent pole films (think IronMan and Batman Begins).
The whole film was shot in and around a single apartment building (where co-director Greg Strause had a condo) and boasts a good cast of veteran actors. Donald Fason (Scrubs), Eric Balfour (24, Haven), David Zayas (Dexter).
Visually the movie is pretty cool...and up until the very end I was ready to rip the haters. But, then there was the ending. The soul crushing, mind numbing, rape of good intentions.
***SPOILER***
Without giving too much away -- when you think the movie is over for Eric Balfour and Scottie Thomson's characters...shut the movie off. Trust me you'll thank me for that bit of advice should you ever watch the "full cut". Save yourself the heartache...especially if, like me, you have been enjoying the movie up to that point.
I've never gotten physically upset with a movie ending before this movie. But, after the point where I would have ended the movie I found myself saying out loud things like. "REALLY", "BULL SHIT", "GIVE ME A BREAK".
A really fun low budget action film, shot for $500,000 with about $10,000,000 in visual effects. I'd say that overall the first 87 +/- min. get a rating of B+
The bell curve that I'm using to gage the impact of the ending is pretty damn harsh...for the full 97 min version of the film I would say that the ending drags it down to be a D.
Essentially, the ending is like a kick in the balls. As if the directors were saying, "Thanks for enjoying the majority of the film! Thanks for giving us your hard earned money! But I would prefer if you left the theatre in pain and misery!"
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