Remember Skyline, the low budget 2010 sci-fi that trapped a bunch of recognizable if hardly famous character actors in a condo just as an alien invasion kicked off? It’s okay if you don’t, because not a lot of people do.
Directed by the Strause brothers, who helmed the wretched Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, the movie was widely panned by critics but turned out to be a decent-sized success at the box office after earning close to $70 million on a shoestring budget, while the visual effects were admittedly impressive for such a small scale production. Somehow, Skyline has managed to spawn an entire trilogy, and the closing chapter is blowing up on Netflix as we speak.
Seven years after the original, sequel Beyond Skyline was released straight to VOD to almost no fanfare whatsoever, despite the fact that it was a vast improvement on its predecessor in virtually every way. A continuation of the story in name only, the second installment pivoted towards full-blown action territory, and roped in the always reliable Frank Grillo and Iko Uwais to anchor the set pieces.
Third and final film Skylines initially debuted on VOD at the end of last year, and while it’s perfectly acceptable for the standards of B-level genre cinema, it hardly set the world alight. However, it’s become the latest mediocre actioner to find a second life after being added to the Netflix library, proving once again that subscribers want nothing more than undemanding entertainment by the time the weekend arrives.
If you have to pick any of the three Skyline movies to watch then make sure it’s the second one, but the final outing for the unexpectedly long-running franchise is proving to be surprisingly popular nonetheless.