Overall verdict: 5.5/10
Silat saves the world from aliens
The Good: Excellent special effects despite small budget, decent action, big ideas expanding on the typical alien invasion movie, strong first act
The Bad: Bland characters, drop in special effects standard near the end, erratically filmed fight scenes, tedious build up to climax
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Mark Corey is your average Los Angeles cop with a down and out no good son he keeps bailing out of jail. They got problems. An uneventful train commute turns into the end of the world as we know it. Giant alien space ships have come to earth, abducting the population and extracting their brains to be used as wetware processors for their war machines.
You know where this is going: bunch of people forced together by circumstance against impossible odds. Mark and son are joined by a train operator Audrey and an old blind homeless man Sarge. They got problems. Big problems. Alien biomechanical creatures of all shapes and sizes are assaulting every major city. Each one looking amazing despite being CGI in a movie with a relatively small Budget.
Their adrenaline pumping escape through an alien onslaught does not end well as they are abducted by what seems to be one of the alien generals. It is here where we see the intricately designed alien ship interiors. Once again amazing work, well beyond what one would expect for a film of such measly budget.
We also get to see the aliens themselves up close and they are realised through a combination of suit actors and minor cgi touch ups. The suits are great, if only a little derivative looking like a rearranged combination of leftover parts from Aliens Vs Predator. It is revealed that the human brains the aliens are using can be triggered to take over the exoskeletons or war machines, as evidenced by a rogue alien which seems to bear the memories of the human whose brain it had been installed with.
Unfortunately there is little explanation for this phenomenon other than a contrived “power of Love” gimmick where the sight of a loved one in danger will somehow “snap them out of it” and allow the human brain to exert control over its alien exoskeleton. For those who have watched the first SKYLINE movie from 2010, there is a payoff to that movie’s cliffhanger though you may be hard pressed to recognize it considering that the previous characters are played by all new actors.
BEYOND SKYLINE does try to thread some new ground by the second act which sees the protagonists rescue a baby girl who seems to be aging at an accelerated rate and exhibiting powers to control the alien technology. They clash with the alien General and end up crashing the ship into a south East Asian Jungle. There, the protagonists join up with a rag tag band of guerrillas led by Indonesia martial artist Iko Uwais. Unfortunately the execution is less than polished; a lot of talking, erratic pacing, and a lack of plot focus until the aliens show up again in the climax.
What could have been a desperate intense battle for survival instead turns into something out of power rangers. Having blown the budget on the city wide invasion and space ship interiors, the special effects in the climax do not look as good as the rest of the movie. The aliens, who were previously portrayed as so fearsome that just looking at one will leave a human in a trance and ripe for capture, are now typical foot soldiers and cannon fodder. The cinematography and flat lighting make the rubber suited aliens almost painful to watch as the guerrillas fight back with, i kid you not, Silat martial arts moves.
All while ducking around Raiden’s temple from MORTAL KOMBAT. There is a nice homage to old giant monster movies that would have been more enjoyable with better CGI. All this leading to the ending which m, as uplifting as it was, is just too contrived for words, setting up what looks like a new video game.
Alien invasion stories seem to be a whole new nadir since INDEPENDENCE DAY RESURGENCE, and BEYOND SKYLINE does little to help the genre. It is decent, with relatable though somewhat uninteresting characters. The initial mystery over the aliens, their motives and what not is fairly intriguing but the mystery is never allowed to develop gradually, instead solved via mandatory exposition dump. CGI and special effects clearly deteriorate in quality from the start (big Budget movie standard) to the end (tv series from more than 6 years ago standard).
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Entertainment: B
Story: B+
Acting: B-
Characters: C
Music: C-
Replay value: B-
"Brains": C-
