December 15th can’t come soon enough.
Few people seem to recall the 2010 alien invasion movie Skyline by The Brothers Strause — which is probably for the best. Skyline’s only shot at immortality is landing on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. If I sound bitter it’s because I am. It’s rare that a film that looks like it’s aimed right at me leaves me so disappointed. After a seven-year hiatus, the series is back with Beyond Skyline, a follow-up that nobody was asking for, especially me. But then something crazy happened. Beyond Skyline’s bonkers trailer subverted my expectations and transformed my Skyline apathy into genuine excitement.
Despite its poor critical reception, Skyline was a financial success, earning over $66 million at the worldwide box office against its $10 million budget. Those who saw the movie in theaters left disappointed. Skyline has a lowly 16% fresh critic rating and 18% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. People went to see Skyline because it seemed like a cool looking alien invasion flick but the film felt more like a claustrophobic thriller. After one look at Beyond Skyline’s trailer, it’s clear that the movie is intent on including more edge of your seat sci-fi action. Beyond Skyline also added a couple of certified ass-kickers to the cast: Frank Grillo and Iko Uwais. You can watch them get “their action hero groove on” in the trailer below.
Here’s Beyond Skyline’s official synopsis:
When the population of Los Angeles is vacuumed off the face of the earth, Detective Mark Corley (Frank Grillo) storms his way onto an alien ship to rescue his estranged son. But after crashing the ship in Southeast Asia, he must forge an alliance with a band of survivors to discover the key to saving his son and taking back the planet once and for all.
I’m of two minds on the film’s trailer. One; Beyond Skyline’s producers poured more money into the sequel and raised the production values up several notches above the 2010 film. And two; computer processors are becoming so powerful and affordable that even the Tommy Wiseaus of the world can make movies that look like Transformers. Either way, kudos to whoever cut the trailer because it looks awesome, it changed my mind about the series, and I’m back on board.
Beyond Skyline may not have all the makings of a great movie but it has the right ingredients for a fun movie. The trailer looks like an Independence Day, Transformers, The Matrix jambalaya where Franki Grillo and Iko Uwais take turns punching the S#!t out of aliens. What more could you ask for from a VOD release that drops ten days before Christmas?
You can catch Beyond Skyline on December 15th in theaters/iTunes/Amazon/VOD.
Related Topics: Frank Grillo, Trailers
