Skyline (2010)

Hypnotic lights descend on Los Angeles, heralding a full scale alien invasion, the intention of which is the xenocide of humanity.

Jarrod (Eric Balfour) and girlfriend Elaine (Scottie Thompson) are in Los Angeles to visit Jarrod’s friend Terry (Donald Faison), who has ‘made it’ as a producer (or possibly a director – it’s not clear).  Terry has a job offer for Jarrod, but Elaine does not want the lifestyle that comes with it. She need not have worried as the aliens arrive, negating Terry’s job offer, not to mention the rest of human civilization, quicker than you can say ‘giant interstellar human vacuum cleaner’.
Many movies come to mind while watching Skyline: a Cloverfield like concept – without the shaky camera work and much brighter; The Mist – without the actual mist; Independence Day – without the independence; maybe a dash of War of the Worlds here and there. One thing it is not though is another Battlefield Earth, one of the worst science fiction movies ever made; just so you have some perspective.
Skyline is a survival science fiction movie. There are some made-for-TV moments, acting wise for the most part, but they are few and far between and do not detract from the situations tension. The special effects are excellent, more so when you consider the movies $10 million budget, with a variety of alien menaces for the survivors to contend with.
The ending is exciting, and satisfying to a certain extent, although it could have benefited from an extra ten to fifteen minutes to more fully explore the end theme. It will be interesting to see at what point the sequel takes off from.
 
Ignore the negative reviews: 4 out of 5.

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