Skylines (2020)

Directed by: Liam O’Donnell | 114 minutes | action, adventure | Actors: Lindsey Morgan, Jonathan Howard, Daniel Bernhardt, Rhona Mitra, James Cosmo, Yayan Ruhian, Alexander Siddig, Cha-Lee Yoon, Ieva Andrejevaite, Jeremy Fitzgerald, Naomi j Ogawa, Rokas Spanlinskas, Giedre Mockeliunaite, Tanay Genco Ulgen, Phong Giang Rajab Hassan, Tony Black, Samantha Jean, Katherine Haiden, Martynas Vaidotas, Rokas Spalinskas, Alius Veverskis, Domantas Pûras

‘Skylines’ – or ‘Skylin3s’ as this film is also called – comes from the pen of Liam O’Donnell. In addition to being an author, this best man is also a director. He also filmed ‘Beyond Skyline’ (2017). The latter film is the forerunner of the ‘Skylines’ discussed here. The 3 in ‘Skylin3s’ is there for a reason, because this is the second sequel to the 2010 ‘Skyline’ written by O’Donnell. Part one was canned by Colin Strause and Greg Strause. Are you still there?

‘Skylines’ revolves around Captain Rose Corley (Lindsey Morgan). She was born with alien superpowers. A gift that comes in handy in the world she lives in. Our planet is in bad shape. Rose must battle human hybrid aliens. This group now makes up half of the world’s population and that is a problem. To stop this danger, Rose must invade an alien mothership.

There’s a reason ‘Skylin3s’ was released under the title ‘Skylines’. This O’Donnell trilogy excels in anonymity. The first part appeared eleven years ago and did not do much in the cinemas. It took seven years before a sequel was made. Part two didn’t fare much better and there’s a good chance the third part will meet the same fate. Without prior knowledge, this film comes across as rather fragmentary.

In addition, O’Donnell may be a good storyteller on paper, but behind the camera his storytelling style doesn’t come across very well. ‘Skylines’ looks rather plastic and that is because of the use of CGI. The digital trick is not convincing and is already outdated when this film is released. It’s like watching a computer game with some actors glued in by accident. The story is nowhere sharp or original and the acting is no reason to see this production. The cast is not so bad, but the weak dialogues and the stiff story ensure that you are never comfortable in this film. Unfortunate. With a tighter script and better special effects, this could have been an entertaining sci-fi action movie.