'Beyond Skyline' Trailer: The Sequel To That Awful 2010 Movie Looks Surprisingly Not Awful
Do you remember Skyline, the 2010 science fiction movie about people trapped in an apartment during an alien invasion? Of course you don't. It was awful. Terrible. Probably one of the worst movies given a wide release in theaters that year. But it was also cheap, produced for a modest $10 million budget, allowing it to make enough money to justify a sequel. And now, seven years later, the trailer for that sequel has arrived.
And it looks...not bad? Perhaps that's because Beyond Skyline features a new cast, a new setting, a new director, and only a tenuous connection to the original movie.
To be fair, the Beyond Skyline trailer (originally unveiled over at AICN) isn't going to appeal to those who aren't already okay with watching low-budget science fiction movies that look like they're one step removed from premiering on SyFy. But this looks like a very, very good low-budget science fiction movie, the kind of B-movie junk food I can totally get behind.
That's Frank Grillo in the lead role as a father whose son is abducted by aliens. You may remember Grillo from his minor role as Crossbones in the Captain America sequels or from the Purge sequels, where he lent his trademark gruffness and hyper-masculinity to the proceedings. He would have been a bonafide movie star in 1971, but he's starring in Beyond Skyline in 2017. Anyway, he's great. Also great: The Raid and The Raid 2 star Iko Uwais, who plays the fellow who recruits Grillo's character into defending his town agains the alien threat. But Grillo just wants his son back! What's a glowering hero to do?
Beyond Skyline is directed by Liam O'Donnell, who co-wrote the first movie. He's stepping in for original directors Greg and Colin Strause, who were also responsible for the truly wretched Alien vs. Predator: Requiem. While they're still producers on the sequel, them not being behind the camera is reason enough for me to give this a shot.
And why not? It has Frank Grillo firing rockets at giant aliens! Cataclysmic destruction! All kinds of extra-terrestrial beasties causing all kinds of havoc around the globe! Sure, it has that above-mentioned direct-to-DVD tinge, but there's enough here to scratch a serious B-movie itch that's been building up ever since more honest genre trash started getting replaced with self-aware junk like Sharknado.
Beyond Skyline will have an international release in theaters, but American audiences will have to settle for a limited theatrical run and a VOD release. And perhaps that's for the best. This looks very much like the kind of movie that will play better to a living room than an auditorium.