► Skyline | F

Skyline is a lot like the illegitimate child of Cloverfield and Independence Day. The producers of Skyline decided to throw almost the entirety of its meager budget toward some second-rate special effects, leaving only the scraps for everything else.

Basically, Skyline follows the story of several unlikeable and uninteresting 20-somethings during some sort of alien abduction event. After crashing in his friend's penthouse following a night of drinking and arguments, Jarrod (Eric Balfour, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and his girlfriend Elaine (Scottie Thompson, NCIS), are awakened by a strange blue light. The alien invaders have invented what amounts to a human bug zapper that lures their hypnotized prey into tractor beams. Jarrod initially becomes entranced by the enigmatic glow but is snapped out of it by his friend Terry (Donald Faison, Scrubs). Witnessing the incredible power of the extraterrestrials and knowing full well the effects of the light, Jarrod and Terry decide that the best course of action is to go up to the roof and stare at the spaceships. When that brilliant idea doesn't work out, they regroup with a few others in the apartment and try to figure out a way to avoid a horrific amount of probing.

Everyone involved in the production of Skyline should be ashamed to have their names attached to the project. To start with, the actors are barely even acting. They seem to be simply reading their lines and adding some inflection every once in a while. Honestly, I've seen better performances in Hamburger Helper commercials. The direction is unsurprisingly no better, as Greg and Colin Strause have directed only one other feature, the critically panned Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. Many of the scenes are awkwardly framed or canted and are often not-so-cleverly broken up by shots of the LA skyline.

Clearly the pair of visual effects designers has no grasp of direction, and, after the cinematic tragedy that is Skyline, should give up on their new-found hobby. As for the screenplay, it frankly doesn't make any sense. It's not just that the plot is ridiculous even in the context of the movie, but parts of conversations seem to be completely left out. If a lack of cohesion and transition in dialogues makes sense to you, you've got a job waiting for you in Hollywood.

To put it simply, nothing is done well in Skyline. Even things that would normally go unnoticed in a film, such as sound mixing, are done poorly. Anything would be preferable to sitting through this abysmal travesty.