Skyline

(M) Hopscotch DVD/BD

What do you do when the unexpected happens, especially if your life is threatened by what you didn’t see coming?

What do you rely upon? Where do you turn?

Battle: Los Angeles has lobbed at cinemas to offer its big-budget take on what would happen if the City Of Angels was beset by space invaders but Skyline did the same thing last year.

Like Cloverfield mixed with one million other alien invasion movies (War of the Worlds to Independence Day), derivative spectacle Skyline focuses on a disposable bunch of one-dimensional characters dealing with the unexpected.

Most of their choices tend to involve tepid acts of stupidity, dumb bravery and convenient jabs of helpful insight.

Made worse by an inane conclusion that makes a mockery of Alien, The Matrix and umpteen superior sci-fi encounters, the copycat events of Skyline only occasionally break free to unleash visual bombs.

The best compliment to pay Skyline is that it’s a huge leap forward from the previous film made by directors Greg and Colin Strause: Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem. Shudder.

Providing little reason to deeply contemplate anything that is happening during its run-of-the-mill procession, Skyline may spark a discussion about what we rely upon when we’re confronted by what we don’t anticipate. Do we trust in our own strengths — or the unlimited power of the Almighty?

Ben McEachen