Beyond Skyline (2017)

From the sublime (The Tree of Life) to the ridiculous- I was never a fan of the original Skyline film from 2010,  so perhaps shouldn’t have been surprised by this belated sequel. This is balls-to-the-wall CGI madness with a b-movie cast that throws everything at the screen (gigantic self-repairing spaceships, Giger-ish aliens, martial arts action, lots of guns, lots of explosions and plenty of splashy gore) with a mad frenzy that’s almost intoxicating. We’ve all heard of fan-service, but I think this film needs a new description, let’s call it geek-service. Its as if the films sole purpose is to make teenage geeks wet themselves in dizzy excitement. Pretty girls, alien robots yanking living victims brains out of skulls (and dropping them into alien suits, hey-presto zombie army), giant robots battling each other like some Alien Street Fighter Turbo video-game (Round One! Fight!). Trouble is, anyone over the age of, say, 17, need not apply, you’re too old/sophisticated to ‘get it’.

Some decades north of 17, I’m clearly not the target audience so it’s perhaps unfair of me to nail this turkey to the mast. I’m sure this has its fans but while its possibly more fun than the first film (I can’t remember, having tried so hard to forget it, what actually happened in that first film, other than an alien invasion spoiling someone’s day) it’s really too long, feeling almost like two films stitched together. Its also unashamedly franchise-building with an eye on future films or possibly a tv series (there is a cynicism to some of it that leaves a sour taste, or maybe that was just the script).

I suppose I’ve seen worse…