Stars Frank Grillo, Bojana Novakovic, Callan Mulvey, Jonny Weston, Zarah Mahler, Pamelyn Chee with Yayan Ruhian and Iko Uwais Directed by Liam O’Donnell The first Skyline came out in 2010 and was made by the Strause brothers (Greg and Colin) more as a showcase for their effects company HyDrauLx, and their ability to do some impressive effects at a modest budget. While there were some cool moments, the movie came across as a standard sci-fi flick with a bunch of characters experiencing and trying to survive an alien invasion by hiding out in an apartment. It was not quite as grand as the concept or trailer might have wanted it to be, and a disappointing box-office return sealed its fate at the time. No franchise possibility despite getting the movie to a point where you get a small taste of what they promised. One of the lead characters got his brain implanted into an alien body and manages to regain his memories instead of becoming a drone. He sets out within the alien ship to rescue his girlfriend… and that’s where it ends. I really wished they’d gotten to that point within the first hour and made a cool rampage-through-the-alien-ship for the second half, but no; we didn’t get that. Seven years later, original co-writer Liam O’Donnell, with HyDrauLx Pictures backing, returns to this idea with a part side-story and part sequel. We start before the alien invasion with the introduction of new characters, particularly cop Mark (Frank Grillo) and his son Trent (Jonny Weston) on a subway train dealing with family issues as the aliens arrive. It isn’t long before we catch up with the first movie and we find out what happened to the other two character left over from the previous movie. In a weird way, I got my wish from the first movie, the new characters are rampaging through the alien ship within the hour and we get a whole different kick-ass movie in the second half when the alien ship crash lands in Laos. O’Donnell really runs with the concept this time with technically two different movies in one, and yet seamlessly running as one. The action heavy second half, thanks to the appearance of Iko Uwais and team handling the fight choreography, takes the movie to another level. Sure, it’s not quite Avatar levels of storytelling or action beats, but it is better than the average sci-fi action flick you’d find on SyFy or some other cable/satellite channel. With Grillo and Uwais, along with Yayan Ruhian, the action is in fairly safe and dependable hands for action movie aficionados. Sci-Fi fans may tolerate the story giving way to the action, but the plot is supported ably to move the story along. O’Donnell does well enough wrangling all the aspects and relying on Uwais’ team for the action. In all, it’s a decent time waster with some effective elements coming together Rating ***1/2 / 5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here. Please Support.
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