Skyline: an attempt at a positive film review.

 

As entertaining as it is to watch a seemingly obscure film from 2010 that probably should have ended up on the SyFy channel, but got a wide distribution, I found that myself struggling to pay attention. 

 

So…..

 

43 minutes into my brilliant idea of being a positive movie critic, and I know I’ve created a massive challenge for myself, but here I am, so here goes:

 

Scrolling past Netflix on the regular, and you find thousand of titles fighting for your attention, Skyline will likely be at the bottom of your list as it has 16% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

 

Fear not, here are some positives should you choose to venture out onto the skyline (you see what I did there?  Yeah you do).

 

Skyline is the ultimate “WTF” movie.  Everything the actors do or say, as well as the construction of each scene brings with it that undeniable emotion that can only be expressed with the phrase, “what the fuck.”

 

My favorite “WTF’’ moment was when Jarrod (Eric Balfour) and Oliver (David Zayas) decide to block the penthouse door with a washing machine DURING an alien invasion.  A WASHING MACHINE!  I know, it makes zero sense, but that’s the fun of it.

Remember, we must keep our disbelief suspended.  We are escaping into another world, after all.  That’s the beauty of movies.

 

However, I have digressed.  Continuing on:

 

Oliver, as if suddenly reading my thoughts, says to Jarrod, “It’s better than nothing,” to which Jarrod replies, “yeah, if you say so.”

 

What I liked about this scene is the possibility that both the screenwriter and filmmaker were cognizant and self-aware of what the audience would be thinking.  Or maybe they weren’t, and I’m giving too much credit to the makers of this film.  Either way, I laughed at the scene.  Thus, I enjoyed it.

 

Skyline is not made for it’s MAYBE feasible, but NOT-so-feasible plot, and relies heavily on special effects to give it pizzazz.  Special effects that, in 2019, seem dilettante. 

 

BUT….

 

Certain scenes are spliced up to give it a chaotic feel, beats within the dialogue are even paced.  The use of time-lapse to express passage of time (even if to indicate hours gone by) all these things were positives.  They propelled the story further, which is what you want. 

 

The women, while their interaction with each other was predictably indifferent, were not forced to wear impossible clothing during a world wide catastrophe.  In fact, one of them wore what we now call athleisure wear.  Leggings, tank top, and the most impressive; sneakers.  How often do we see women in action films wearing heels and TINY outfits?  Too often.  In skyline, you’ll be able to try and outrun aliens whether you do is another case entirely.   

 

Overall impression is while the movie might be hard to give all your attention to sober, it is still entertaining enough for me to recommend to watch drunkenly with your bestie, and scream “WTF” together.  

The Joker First Impressions

It’s not that we want to relate to the Joker, but Joaquin Phoenix plays the character with such a vulnerability that you begin to feel sorry for a madman. 

The thing is, the Joker as always been someone who distrupts the status quo and aims for the 1%. Millions of us can relate to the exhaustion and insecurity of being slapped around by society for not fitting in, and more so for those of us dealing with some level of mental illness. 

What this new Joker film does really well is show a slow decent into madness after trying so hard for so long. It shows the lack of funding in helping those suffering from mental illness and the loss of innocence when our checks and balances goes unchecked. 

Joaquin is an actor I’m not a massive fan of, but in this case and in this film I found his subtle growth into the Joker very compelling. More over what I found impressive was the lack of violence. 

I went in thinking I’d see a madman on the loose leaving piles of bodies in his wake, but what I found on screen was the violence limited to that which served a meaningful purpose to shaping the character. Each act of violence transforms the Joker like that of a Caterpillar into a butterfly. At first it’s shocking then it’s beautiful. 

It is odd to say the act of killing on screen is beautiful, but it’s the only way I know to describe it. 

The Joker is raw and real and honestly, this may be a controversial statement, but I liked this version better than Heath Leager’s version. Both are outstanding performances, but Joaquin Phoenix brought a childlike sensibility to a scary man and made him relatable.  

I would totally recommend this film. The cinematography alone is gorgeous.  The score of the film is amazing. Overall, as deeply sad as is this film, it is very entertaining.