![]() In the end, this is a reasonably entertaining B-movie with great visuals, cardboard characters and enough going on to hold one's attention. ![]() I could have done with less giant robot suit fighting, an aspect added with this film, seemingly inspired by Pacific Rim. ![]() Regardless, it doesn't bother me, as it adds to the B-movie appeal. That element becomes key to the story, and while it's no less silly, there's an attempt made to explain and justify it. The alien's backstory is explored more, as is the first film's silly reveal that the aliens are after human brains. While the first movie was a thriller, this one heads decidedly into action movie territory, with Grillo and Asian action star Uwais both getting into many a martial arts battle. This sequel, which still has the Strause brothers as producers, looks just as sharp, although some shots suffer from being too brightly lit, allowing the FX work to be more obvious. That film was made by the Strause brothers, special effects pros that did almost all of the films very good visual effects at their own homes with home computers. The first film was a modestly successful low-budget affair with a B-movie sensibility and a polished look that belied the small budget. Later, after a trip on one of the alien spaceships leaves them stranded in Laos, our heroes join forces with Sua (Iko Uwais) and his underground drug cartel to fight back, while also protecting a mysterious child that may be the key to salvation. They team with other passengers, including train operator Audrey (Bojana Novakovic) and blind Vietnam war vet Sarge (Antonio Fargas) to try and escape from the invaders. This time we follow burn-out ex-cop Mark (Frank Grillo) and his JD son Trent (Jonny Weston) who are on the LA subway train when the invasion begins. The first half of this film takes place simultaneously with the events of the first film, where LA residents try to survive a citywide alien invasion. I remain “meh” on him, but I did admire this movie’s near-lunatic genre-hopping.this being a sequel to 2010's Skyline. But killing yourself … is not gonna change that”), music (lots of string sections syncopating in high register) and much else. Whether you find this as much fun to watch as it is to describe will depend on your tolerance for clichés in dialogue (“I’m so sorry your family is gone. (Long story.) The movie, which lists several Asian companies as co-producers, then morphs into a sci-fi martial arts picture, featuring a scene in which a woman lures a giant alien beast into a minefield. ![]() ![]() One of the captives is a blind Vietnam vet, which is interesting, because eventually the alien ship crashes in Laos, right on the Mekong River, where Mark must protect the newborn he delivered on the ship. O’Donnell was one of the two screenwriters, retaining its aliens but jettisoning its characters.)įleeing the invaders via subway tunnels doesn’t work, so soon Mark, Trent and a few stock types are in an alien ship, besieged by fearsome creatures with tentacles that unscrew the tops of human heads. After the ship crashes in Southeast Asia, Mark must forge an alliance with a band of survivors to discover the key to saving. (Among other things, it’s a kind of sequel to the 2010 film “ Skyline,” for which Mr. When the population of Los Angeles is sucked off the face of the earth, Detective Mark Corley (Frank Grillo) storms his way onto an alien ship to rescue his estranged son. The prospect of a hybrid of “Battle: Los Angeles” (2011) and Andrzev Wajda’s “Kanal” (1956) is not necessarily displeasing, but as it happens, “Beyond Skyline,” written and directed by Liam O’Donnell, is much, much more. A stalled truck forces the two to take the subway, at which time their city is subject to a very gnarly alien attack. In this peculiar piece of sci-fi sensationalism, Frank Grillo plays Mark, a tough Los Angeles cop, now suspended from the force, whom we first see springing his ne’er-do-well adult son, Trent, from the hoosegow. ![]()
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