Bullet Points: Beyond Skyline

2010’s Skyline is a movie that didn’t exactly set the world on fire in terms of box office but it certainly had a fanbase large enough to warrant this sequel. What makes Beyond Skyline different compared to many of the other sequels of its kind is that it didn’t just try the same old formula that made the original popular. It took some blue lights and an alien invasion and threw in a badass Frank Grillo and shattered some alien faces with pencak silat.

Synopsis: A tough-as-nails detective embarks on a relentless pursuit to free his son from a nightmarish alien warship.

• Frank and his son: Mark (Frank Grillo) shows up to the LAPD station to pick up his son Trent (Johnny Weston). It’s one of those father/son duos from the movies that looks nothing alike and doesn’t really ever work in the sense that it’s believable. Maybe it’s because Mark is getting Trent out of trouble but he’s not 17…he’s 30. I think it would have worked better if they had a younger actor playing Mark’s son. One that actually got some empathy from the crowd instead of the shoulder shrug that it got from me.
• Mass abduction: Frank and Trent board the subway and it isn’t long before the big blue lights attached to the even bigger alien ships start abducting everyone in sight. And I mean literally anyone in sight. If you look at the blue light, it has some sort of tractor beam pull on you until you’re swooped up by the light. An old blind man is left standing alone on the street since he can’t physically see the light and he eventually joins up with the group of survivors including Mark, Trent, Mark’s old police buddy, the subway conductor lady, and some no-named people who have no chance of survival.
• My man Garcia: Jacob Vargas plays Mark’s old partner Garcia. Right on cue, he’s wounded and decides to sacrifice himself so the others can get away. He racks his shotgun and prepares to make his stand against a 50 foot tall alien but amidst all the “thanks bro” looks going back and forth between Mark and Garcia, I couldn’t help but wonder if a true sacrifice would be leaving the shotgun with the living people.

• Get me off this ship: Before long, the blue light special has everyone trudging through the gooey alien ship and attempting to find Trent. It was my least favorite part of the movie. It reminded me a bit of the Tom Cruise War of the Worlds. The film also kind of trudges along for a bit as Mark and the rest of the survivors attempt to get off of the alien ship with their newfound hybrid baby. Without an ounce of formula or breast milk in sight, Mark and the subway lady take on the newborn and exit the ship only to find….
• We’re in Laos?: In an effort to get a bunch of Indonesian actors and a Vietnam War backstory going, the alien ship lands in Laos and then Mark and his new friend played by Bojana Novakovic get acquainted with the locals. And by locals, I mean the local rebels who are fighting their asses off against the aliens.

• Iko and the Mad Dog: The Raid: Redemption fans will be excited to see stars Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian kicking a serious amount of ass. Iko and his sister have been running the rebellion against the aliens from all the tunnels built during the Vietnam War. Frank Grillo and Bojana get brought into the fold and suddenly there are aliens dropping in on them only to get Grillo-blasted!

• Red eyes: What you didn’t know is that these alien drones are just big drones with human brains. That means that any brain with enough power(?) can turn the pretty blue eyes red and then the drone will be fighting for Team Earth. It all starts getting wild when the aliens launch a massive assault on that place from Mortal Kombat and Grillo, Iko, and the rest of the team are forced to defend the place with all sorts of weapons. There is a sweet science montage that gets lost in the midst of all the action and I’ll probably never say that again, so take it in.

The Verdict: Beyond Skyline is an entertaining movie. It’s like a Kardashian sister; not much going on underneath all that “work” but really pretty to look at. I liked the alien ship designs, the fact that the movie dropped us in a random place like Laos, and the fact that Iko and Yayan were in it but the film as a whole probably won’t end up on any best of lists. Frank Grillo is his normal self. He’s a really solid and likable action star who should have peaked 10 years ago. The hand to hand fights are cool, even though an alien invasion by aliens with hand weapons is laughable. I can’t remember having seen Skyline and I still enjoyed Beyond Skyline. That, in itself, is a compliment. Check it out with a few beverages.