Cliché, cheesy, and boring, Skyline is all blue sheen and no soul.    

Colin and Greg Strause (aka The Brothers Strause) are great special effects men, yet as filmmakers they are mediocre at best. Skyline, their sophomore directing gig, proves that point in dazzling, mind numbing detail.

Among their many successes in the VFX field is Avatar, James Cameron’s mega blockbuster which engaged with its Dances-with-Wolves- in- space melodrama, and amazed with its groundbreaking effects.

Unfortunately, The Brothers Strause didn’t think to seek advice from Cameron on how to interweave a decent plot amongst all of the shiny pixels. Character and story (courtesy of VFX cohorts Joshua Cordes and Liam O’Donnell) are nothing more than filler in the Skyline universe. Dialogue, an unintentional joke delivered with sincerity by a cast of talented actors in career worst roles.   

Curiously, what they did take from their experience from King Cameron is that blue (the colour, not the feeling) is in. Yet if Avatar made blue the new gold, then Skyline is sure to devalue its worth very quickly.

The set up is simple: Two childhood friends (Eric Balfour and Donald Faison) reunite at a Birthday bash in a luxurious high rise apartment complex. The following day, blue tinged and mega pissed alien beings land on Earth and begin harvesting the human populace, to the horror of the pair and their friends, who try to evacuate the complex and stay one step ahead of the space invaders.

What follows are the usual protocols and stereotypes found in the Alien Invasion sub-genre (War of the Worlds is especially tapped dry), as well as some unintentionally laughable new elements that are unforgettable for all of the wrong reasons.

Of course with the Brothers Strause on board, the visual effects are sure to impress. These men are masters of that craft, and the VFX on hand are some of the best of the year.

The action sequences are also good, but only to a certain point, with many gotcha moments recycled throughout the film and eerily reminiscent of Steven Spielberg’s superior War of the Worlds.

The one lone piece of inspired innovation comes when a large alien vessel sucks up scores of people like a huge vacuum\, yet even that moment feels diluted since it was featured prominently in the trailers. (Note to all filmmakers: Don’t give away your money shot in the marketing materials).    

To end it all, the characters are just not engaging, with no personality to cling on to, nor are they worthy of our empathy, which makes the moments in between the action quite boring.

An open ended conclusion screams sequel, yet Skyline and The Brothers Strause do not deserve one, nor should we be made to relive this most uninspiring of science fiction.