Skyline (2010)

Title, Year:  Skyline (2010)

Director:  The Brothers Strause

My wife and I have a running joke that Eric Balfour is something of a bad luck charm for TV and film projects.  The one exception being the first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which went on to be a huge cult hit.  Eric Balfour’s character was actually killed off in this episode.  Lucky for them, had he stayed around it would have likely not seen a second season.

I’m not trying to be mean, but this guy shows up as secondary characters in many things and never seems to find a bit of success.  So, when a movie like Skyline comes out, gets a theatrical release, and promotes Eric Balfour as the lead actor, I’m thinking “this is going to be awful” and “it will be a terrifically bad movie that will no doubt be a ship I will enjoy watching sink”.  Really cheesy, bad movies are sometimes fantastic to watch.  They have to be done with the sense that the filmmakers involved, down to the actors starring in it, really seem to believe they are working on something special.  On that note, Skyline is a terrifically wonderful B-movie. 

Where do I begin?  This movie shamelessly takes key points from better films of the ‘aliens-attack’ genre and tries to blend those into something of a unique vision.  The opening credits steal the font and visual style directly from the Transformers films.  The rest contains very recognizable theft from films such as the 2005 War of the Worlds, Independence Day, and even the recent District 9.  The story gets so wonderfully ludicrous that my wife and I laughed out loud.  I can’t give the plot points away.  Seriously, if I was 12 years old and seeing this movie for the first time it would probably be my favorite film.  Just so you know that’s not a compliment.  When I was 12, I’m pretty sure I thought Jean Claude Van Damme’s Bloodsport was high art. 

I think Skyline is a little piece of B-movie perfection.  Does that mean I am telling you to go watch this movie?  Not really.  I think you’ll know whether or not you share a viewpoint with me on bad movies that mean well.  If you think you do, then I say run out and rent this film.  My 12 year old self says “it was AWESOMELY RAD MAN!”.