DNR THINK: SKYLINE SUCKS ... and here is why

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DNR thinks SKYLINE SUCKS and here is why…

Ok so it didn't look good in the trailer and AVPR was mentally bad but I want to believe… Visual Effects people can make good films. Fincher does, The Spierig brothers nearly did, and Gareth Edwards has, so with much hope I jumped in with both feet into Skyline.

Trashing films is easy from the comfort of the multiplex, but sometimes you have to stand up and say something. I will start by being positive, I love the idea of this film, Alien invasion and time travel are my things, I’m 35 and still love comics. Also the idea that Vfx companies are producing there own content, owning the ip and reaping the benefits that normally as a service provider they never get is great. Shooting an alien invasion move from the other side, ala Cloverfield, cool, the parlour set up , six people one location as the events unfold around them nice, Owning the means of production so as to get the finance directed to the places where it is needed, I agree... BUT this film fails on every level; even some of the VFX are bad.

So let’s start with the basics, Titles and font choice. Bank gothic, slightly extruded and lit with blue anamorphic lens flairs is the most overused font and style and it’s rubbish, Andrew Kramer and Stu Matchwitz use this in a joking way to advertise there stuff. And to bring on time orientation graphics with lens flairs is like a cheap RNB album CD commercial. Next: The Grade is to blue… it really brings you out of any reality, the Matrix was green because your were in a computer. The Non Linear Narrative, the whole 14 hours earlier thing, really, I just spent a year watching Flash Forward, (which has better acting and storyline that Skyline, see it’s that bad.) And 7 hours of The Event and all you can do it rip of that....
The Cast, Ok so the main guy ... Terry (played by Donald Adeosun Faison of Scrubs fame) on imdb.com does not even have a surname, alarm bells, the characters are that 2d that they don't even have surnames so he is a visual effects artist or a rapper or what he does effects. What this is confusing trying to explain it. Get this, there is a line when there talking about a fiction robot sequence that he or someone is making, and he asks 'is it good' and the other character says 'No, but the director likes it so who cares.' That is the film in a nutshell..... The best review I have found says this about the cast... "Uncharismatic twentysomethings with insipid soap opera problems . . ." There are only so many times you can hear people saying “What are we going to do”. David Zayas as the goateed security guard is the worst offender.

Plagiarism… Skyline rips of set piece after set piece, from films ranging from the obvious like Transformers, Martix and Independence Day, to Requiem for a Dream, Jurassic park and Star Trek. The line between homage and plagiarism is crossed all the time. Elements that have been used many times in familiar sci-fi settings are entitled to be referenced and evolved, but not shamelessly stolen, that’s just wrong. The main alien ships look exactly like Nero's Romulan Mining ship from JJ Abrams Star Trek. The Smaller 'Hunter' drones, with not much modification the sentinels from the matrix and the 'Creatures' were straight out of Resident Evil. The Ending was worse than the end of Alien Resurrection, with a 'what the frak is going on' moment that’s just defines stupidity and feels like it was added at the end, after the film was finished.

There is also really shocking Canon 5d mk2 product placement, which is not necessary at all.

So I can go on and on, I wont you, i am sure you get the message, but one more point … I have read this was shot on the Red with the new MX chip, mainly at an asa of 2000, with practical lights and a reduced lighting kit... powered by batteries… you can tell it so noisy.. It might be the print it might be the digital conversion but it looks shocking... The Social network was a great advert for the Red in feature production this is bad news

I said i would stop but the stupidest part , apart from the ending ... is when David Zayas character decided to turn on the gas and let it fill the apartment and have one last fag to detonate the gas and destroy the resident evil monster. It's an act of heroism and defiance, we pull focus to a picture of a kamikaze on the wall ... really thats fraked up... like we as the audience don't get what he is about to do , we have to be show a picture.

Finally and the most worrying thing of all is I think the brothers, saw that they made AVPR for 50 million and it made 150 million back, so they make a film for 10 million in a genre which will make its money back and give craft it, quick buck thanks ... investors happy, more nice cars and high rise apartments for us (yes the apartment in the film is Greg Strauss's)..

Please go and see Monsters by Gareth Edwards, as what he did should be applauded, no this pile of shit... This film makes Pitof's Catwoman look good.
MONSTERS BY GARETH EDWARDS

Let’s hope Battle: Los Angeles learns from Skylines mistakes, it looks great from the new trailer:
SEE HERE

Oh and I wrote this on my phone while watching the movie … that’s how angry I got… I am passionate about scifi and comic books and they are being exploted in a horrible way at present… Some one has got to do something about it…..

Marcus D Dryden
Vfx Supervisor/Director
DNR films/Envy Post Production