Too Liberal Review: Skyline

Hell have no fury like a sleep deprived blogger. This film was meant to bring peace and tranquility to my mundane world. Alas, it did not. And now I’m pissed.

I’ll be honest. I hate this film; really, really, really hate it. The protagonist, Jarrod (played by Eric Balfour), is the most uninspiring character in the history of cinema. Eric does a fantastic ability to personify how empty and hollow this film is.

Donald Faison’s role as ‘Turk’, in Scrubs, will always maintain a special place in my heart. But why has he betrayed me? His character, Terry, is agonising and torturous. Truthfully, it is execrable and bordering on nauseating

The film is 94 minutes long and is literally based entirely in one location. That apartment block will be burned into your retina, because the directors provided free marketing to a luxury apartment in L.A. I assumed the CGI budget accumulated so much resources and finance, that the directors could not afford another location. It’s the only explanation.

Skyline reminds me of a limited version of Independence Days; which I quite enjoyed as a child. However, the narrative provides no justification or explanation for an alien invasion and the relationships of the fringe characters, too.

Everything just happens for no reason. Aliens randomly mount a bloodthirsty and belligerent crusade. The disjointed and nonlinear narrative has ruined a potentially good film; the trailer was extremely stimulating and inspiring.

Jarrod’s nonchalant and ambivalent attitude to life could’ve been explored. Terry is meant to be an special effects expert, yet he comes across as a gangsta rapper. I’m not being facetious, wikipedia confirmed his background and, yet, the movie presented a completely contradictory back story.  Continuity, sub-plot, character depth and expansion are all missing in this film.

But the biggest criticism of them all is the ending. It is beyond ridiculous and parody; very, very lazy of the script writers. The ending effectively represents the vacuum and lack of imagination of the entire movie. I felt cheated, very cheated.

I beg of you, no, I implore you not to watch this film.

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Liberal Democrats fighting for Kent

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Thoughts on the Oscars

In recent years, the British have been quite successful at the Oscars and the film industry in general. The King’s speech is another perfect success of the British ability to tell a good, captivating and well articulated story – which the audience finds gripping.

Slum dog millionaire is another example. It seems British film industry has an uncanny ability to bring a gentle human touch to movies, making the characters be able to relate to the audience. Making them seem more real, so to speak. Which is quite rare in contemporary movie making.

Personally, I find Hollywood blockbusters to be rather repetitive, predictable and extremely lumpen. Storyline, adequate plot and continuity are lacking in most and the use of 3D is execrable. Certain CGI sequences are painful on the eye. I tend to avoid any motion picture which has been hyped up by the Hollywood elite – I find myself disappointed and cheated in majority of the cases. That’s why success from non-American and low budget foreign films please me greatly.

Finally, I’m happy to see Christian Bale getting recognised by the Academy. Arguably the most underrated actor of our times, mainly due to his refusal to accept the ways of Hollywood.

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