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"SKYLINE"
(2010) (Eric Balfour, Donald Faison) (PG-13)

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QUICK TAKE:
Sci-Fi: A small group of survivors hole up inside an L.A. high-rise during an alien invasion.
PLOT:
On the eve of an alien invasion of the planet, successful L.A. rapper Terry (DONALD FAISON) reunites with Jarrett (ERIC BALFOUR), his childhood friend from Brooklyn, and his pregnant girlfriend Elaine (SCOTTIE THOMPSON). Terry throws a massive party at his penthouse where Jarrett and Elaine meet Terry's girlfriend, Candice (BRITTANY DANIEL), and Denise (CRYSTAL REED), Terry's assistant and secret lover.

In the early morning hours, streaks of comet-like lights start to descend on Earth, compelling people to go towards them. Thousands are promptly scooped up into large motherships, and downtown L.A. is attacked by sentinel-like probes and roaming creatures. Terry and the others watch, helpless, from his penthouse before attempting to drive from the building to the marina and escape via boat.

They don't get far when the creatures attack, forcing them back into the building where they also join up with Oliver (DAVID ZAYAS), the building's brutish security manager. With no contact with the outside world, the phones dead, and the TV and radio stations offline, the survivors wait for a rescue that may never come.

OUR TAKE: 3.5 out of 10
Our reviewing policy for films that aren't shown in advance to critics is that we'll only provide a paragraph or two about the film's artistic merits.

The ones I pity seeing the new alien invasion movie "Skyline" are not the impressionable teens and young twentysomethings that this film is clearly aimed at. No, it's all the aspiring and legitimately talented screenwriters out there who have toiled for years trying to get their scripts sold in Hollywood. For those unfortunate souls who have stayed up long nights fine-tuning dialogue, building characters, making sure their screenplay's internal logic is intact...please avoid this film at all costs. You'll wish extraterrestrials for real would come down and obliterate Los Angeles.

"Skyline" is derivative with a capital D. There is not a single original element in it. And believe me, I looked! It steals liberally from such films as "Independence Day," "War of the Worlds," "District 9," and "Cloverfield." In addition to its lack of originality, there isn't one compelling character or memorable line of dialogue in the entire flick. The filmmakers obviously went the cheapie route, confining pretty much 90 percent of the action to an L.A. high-rise in which a rapper (Donald Faison) and his curiously all-white group of friends and hangers-on booze, schmooze, and flooze the night away before an alien invasion. Then, the evil E.T.s descend and we're stuck with these boring, one-note characters who seem more like stand-ins for legitimate movie stars.

Some decent effects shots save this disaster film from being a total disaster, but they don't save it from me rating it a 3.5 out of 10. (T. Durgin)




Reviewed November 12, 2010 / Posted November 12, 2010


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