Skyline - DVD Review

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Starring Eric Balfour, Donald Faison, Brittany Daniel and David Zayas.
Directed by the Brothers Strause.

From the guys that brought you Aliens vs. Predators: Requiem. I would hire them for special effects, but they don't seem to have any instinct for storytelling.

This is an alien invasion story that eliminates those cumbersome elements from other movies like motivation and Act III. Instead they take some cardboard cutouts, fill them in with C-grade TV stars (Hey, it's Eric Balfour from 24! Hey, it's Donald Faison from Scrubs! Hey, it's the weakest link from Dexter!) and trap them in a high-rise apartment building. Most of the movie is about a handful of survivors trying to cross the street.

So what are the aliens? Well, if you mix together the machines from the Matrix with the aliens from Independence Day and Starship Troopers, then push the Cronenberg button on your blender, you'll come close to what these things are.

But why are the aliens here and what are they doing? Apparently they're here to collect brains.

That's right.

The movie has this twist at the end that would normally be the beginning of a climax, but they treat it like that's the end and the credits roll.