Big Screen Peter: Skyline

Editor’s note: Peter Lewis has agreed to use whatever it is you call his writing style to provide some measure of analysis to those folks who still go to a theater to see a movie.

review by Peter Lewis

(I want to begin this review by saying that I have tried my best to restrict myself from giving too much of the film away. That being said, there are slight spoilers housed within. Proceed with caution.)

John Paul Jones, when surrounded, outmanned and outgunned was offered a chance to surrender, he famously replied, “I have not yet begun to fight.”

Much less profound was Anthony McAuliffe, commanding officer of the 101st Airborne at Bastogne. Completely surrounded and freezing in the forests of southern Belgium, his response to an ultimatum for surrender? “Nuts.”

It is in this vein that the struggles of mankind are invariably portrayed on the silver screen. From the corny fun of Independence Day to the preposterousness of The Fifth Element, we are annually inundated with stories featuring the triumph of mankind over any number of enemies. Usually, against unimaginable odds too boot.

Thankfully, Skyline doesn’t quite succumb to this chest-pounding ardor. The story centers around a reunion of two best friends, Jarrod (Eric Balfour) and Terry (Donald Faison). Jarrod and his girlfriend, Elaine (Scottie Thompson), are in Los Angeles visiting Terry for his birthday. This rather limpid genesis soon gives birth to a full-scale alien invasion.

Filmed on an estimated budget of $10 million by the Brothers Strause, Skyline was well shot and, perhaps predictably, featured an array of rather convincing digital effects. It mostly views the coming attack of extraterrestrial beings with the cynical eye of reality:  there are real and honest emotions; there are disagreements between characters; no cowboy hero saves the day against long odds.

Though such attempts at honesty are well received, the picture was far from perfect.

Much like a good rug can tie a room together, all stories rely on a basic thematic framework to foster a sense of cohesion. From this cohesive framework comes not only a compelling narrative structure, but well-formed characters. Skyline can boast nothing remotely close to this. As the small group of survivors struggled to endure and outlast the onslaught of a rabidly consumptive alien race, there was no reason to care, save perhaps a common existence as humans.

But it is this common bond that is the most essential to all stories. Even with the obvious flaws, we can connect and find common cause in the redemptive nature of our continual struggle for survival. To know that struggle is to know the subtle reality of it. As much as one would like to believe that the inherent nature is epitomized through the words and deeds of brash men like John Paul Jones, General McAuliffe, or even the fictional Steven Hiller, the reality is that all struggles are tragedies of resignation, where the will to continue is completely lost and with it all hope.

And like all great struggles for survival, Skyline featured a moment of pure and honest resignation that could have been a fitting and redemptive end to such a desperate struggle. While the ending wouldn’t have completely saved the film from itself, it would have been a breath of semi-fresh air in a sea of like-minded, overly triumphant films. To their eternal detriment, however, the creators opted for an ending of such ridiculously awful proportion that it cannot be properly described without resorting to foul language.

Please feel free to use your imagination recklessly. You’ll get the idea.

• Skyline is playing at the Carmike 14 and the Malco Cinema 12 in Fort Smith, and the Malco Van Buren Cinema. Link here for time and ticket info.

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