Skyline marks the latest directorial offering from special effects whizzes ‘The Brothers Strause’ (pretentious is an overused word in film criticism, but I think it can be fairly ascribed to the brothers’ method of crediting themselves) following the – unnecessary at best - Alien Vs Predator sequel. The story - clearly influenced by Independence Day and Cloverfield - covers a group of friends’ reaction to an alien invasion, although Skyline has the unique selling point of being independently produced and impressively only having a budget of about $10million.
If Skyline had been released as a direct-to-video title, it may well have been a bit of a cult success, including as it does pretty good special effects work and creature design (the aliens look like a mix of octopi, vagina dentata and evil pilot fish – bringing back pleasant memories of Eddie Izzard’s old comedy routine) and several recognisable faces from TV shows such as 24, Six Feet Under, Scrubs and Dexter (admittedly only from supporting roles). However, with the film being the receipient of a wide cinema release and extensive advertising campaign, the only question that can be asked is why? The script is dire, consisting as it does not so much of dialogue but cliches and disconnected statements fired back and forth delivered by the actors in one of two modes – either dull monotone or hysterical shouting. The action is entirely predictable (even down to what order the characters are killed off in), and the characters are not only underdeveloped but incredibly unlikeable. Cloverfield may have also been populated by an overly smug cast, but at least there were interesting ideas and set pieces which Skyline fails to deliver in any form. The script is the first writing effort from a couple of effects artists from the Strauses’ company and it shows (not least because one of the main characters is the owner of a vfx company who leads a lavish playboy lifestyle).

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the finale is brain-cell destroyingly stupid, confirming Skyline as a film that’s best avoided. The directors are already threatening to release a sequel in a couple of years time and we shouldn’t encourage them any further.