Anenome
12-05-2010, 07:45 PM
I have two--no three--major complaints about Skyline. Okay, four major complaints about Skyline.
1. It's only half a movie.
2. The CGI was sparse.
3. Plot holes.
4. ... dammit, what was my 4th.
...
4. Oh right--predictability.
Break down:
1. It's only half a movie.
The ending is complete BS. Nothing's resolved. We don't know who wins. We're left with an interesting reversal that ends up completely unsolved by the plot. BOO. It was like a even-more-lame-than-usual attempt to suggest there will be a 2nd movie.
And there's so many unresolved threads. Not only what happens to our protags, but what the thing under his skin was, etc.
I wish they'd done the ending they have before the halfway mark of the movie, then they could've taken the plot places no one's ever explored before. But they didn't because...
2. The CGI is sparse.
Now, some might take issue with this, but hear me out. What I mean is, while they have the big ships as a few creatures, they're depicting a city-wide takeover of Los Angeles, with millions of people being alien-napped.
There's a lot of broad shots that have barely three aliens in them, when it was clear to me that there's should've been thousands in the backgrounds combing the city for survivors, not two. It makes it implausible as to how so many alien hunters keep showing up just to harass our group of characters. Which leads to...
3. Plot holes.
It's not human nature to leave safety and run outside like that. I didn't buy that section at all.
The creature stepping on the car as it left the garage? Uh, okay. You'd have a better chance of winning the lottery than that happening. Usually it's the 2nd guy out of the box who's in danger of being caught 'cause the first guy notifies anyone watching. It's obvious they couldn't leave the garage because they'd only rented this one hotel and couldn't afford to shoot on the streets :\ sad.
4. Predictability.
I was shocked at just how formulaic the timing was and how cliche the resolutions to action scenes were.
I not only knew what was coming every time a big reveal happened, I could actually feel the exact timing! It was crazy! I knew the gate would have a hunter behind it, I called the helicopter getting taken out almost to the exact moment it happened, the silly little dog scene, sheesh.
A smart writer would've subverted audience expectation to create delight. I saw none of that here.
All of this just verifies the review of the movie I'd read before seeing it, that it was mostly an excuse for some CG house to put their computers to use and pay rent.
You usually don't have to convince Hollywood movies to hire a writer, but in this case they needed one. It wasn't even properly formulaic. This script wasn't even up to the standard of something like "National Treasure". Leaving plot threads unresolved is a CARDINAL SIN, and I've seldom seen it done so blatantly as in this goddamn movie!
I did like the CGI, and I sort of liked the concept. Even if the aliens looked too much like Independence Day. And if the maker's thought the little twist on what's running the alien brains was enough to carry the movie, they were wrong!
...Really wish I could've thought of a 5th complaint. That's a nice, round number.
1. It's only half a movie.
2. The CGI was sparse.
3. Plot holes.
4. ... dammit, what was my 4th.
...
4. Oh right--predictability.
Break down:
1. It's only half a movie.
The ending is complete BS. Nothing's resolved. We don't know who wins. We're left with an interesting reversal that ends up completely unsolved by the plot. BOO. It was like a even-more-lame-than-usual attempt to suggest there will be a 2nd movie.
And there's so many unresolved threads. Not only what happens to our protags, but what the thing under his skin was, etc.
I wish they'd done the ending they have before the halfway mark of the movie, then they could've taken the plot places no one's ever explored before. But they didn't because...
2. The CGI is sparse.
Now, some might take issue with this, but hear me out. What I mean is, while they have the big ships as a few creatures, they're depicting a city-wide takeover of Los Angeles, with millions of people being alien-napped.
There's a lot of broad shots that have barely three aliens in them, when it was clear to me that there's should've been thousands in the backgrounds combing the city for survivors, not two. It makes it implausible as to how so many alien hunters keep showing up just to harass our group of characters. Which leads to...
3. Plot holes.
It's not human nature to leave safety and run outside like that. I didn't buy that section at all.
The creature stepping on the car as it left the garage? Uh, okay. You'd have a better chance of winning the lottery than that happening. Usually it's the 2nd guy out of the box who's in danger of being caught 'cause the first guy notifies anyone watching. It's obvious they couldn't leave the garage because they'd only rented this one hotel and couldn't afford to shoot on the streets :\ sad.
4. Predictability.
I was shocked at just how formulaic the timing was and how cliche the resolutions to action scenes were.
I not only knew what was coming every time a big reveal happened, I could actually feel the exact timing! It was crazy! I knew the gate would have a hunter behind it, I called the helicopter getting taken out almost to the exact moment it happened, the silly little dog scene, sheesh.
A smart writer would've subverted audience expectation to create delight. I saw none of that here.
All of this just verifies the review of the movie I'd read before seeing it, that it was mostly an excuse for some CG house to put their computers to use and pay rent.
You usually don't have to convince Hollywood movies to hire a writer, but in this case they needed one. It wasn't even properly formulaic. This script wasn't even up to the standard of something like "National Treasure". Leaving plot threads unresolved is a CARDINAL SIN, and I've seldom seen it done so blatantly as in this goddamn movie!
I did like the CGI, and I sort of liked the concept. Even if the aliens looked too much like Independence Day. And if the maker's thought the little twist on what's running the alien brains was enough to carry the movie, they were wrong!
...Really wish I could've thought of a 5th complaint. That's a nice, round number.