Skyline

I had been told how bad Skyline was, but I ignored the warnings and rented it anyway. I'm actually kind of glad that I did since I can now add Skyline and Battle of Los Angeles to my rival movie list. They both came out at the same time and are about aliens attacking Los Angeles.

I didn't really care about any of the characters in this movie. There is no character development and they all appear to be pretty shallow. They are also pretty stupid. The aliens are attacking outside so they decide to leave the penthouse were they are hiding and make their way to the marina so they can escape on a boat since they have a hunch they won't be attacked if they are on water? The must have seen Signs.

One distraction I had with this movie was that I kept waiting for a guitar strum or dream beat when Donald Faison would deliver his lines since I've been conditioned from watching Scrubs, but it never happened. I was also a little confused about the aliens. They looked like the sentinels in The Matrix but also had the traditional space ships, as well as giant dinosaurs looking monsters.

Skyline has good special effects and is a combination of Independence Day, War of the Worlds, and Cloverfield, but it's not as good as any of them. I guess the critics were right. I try not to jump on the bashing band wagon since I frequently enjoy movies that others didn't care for, but I can only give Skyline 5.0 stars. At least it made Battle Los Angeles look way better than I originally thought it was.

I Am Number Four

I recently saw I Am Number Four and can best summarize it as "Twilight for boys".

It had the same feel to it as Percy Jackson and left you with a bubble gum after taste. The movie is obviously geared towards a younger audience, but I still think the story had potential. It's about a young man from another planet who is hiding out on earth as his enemies are trying to track him down and kill him.

There were several things in this movie that bothered me.

1) Why do high school students always have to be played by people over 20?

2) His girlfriend is an avid photographer yet she uses an old school camera with film but is somehow able to upload the photos she takes with it onto the Internet shortly after taking the pictures.

3) The main character just happens to move next door to a kid who's dad is an alien expert who new about his planet's existence.

4) The bad guys were a little bit overdone. Big scary bald guys with tattoos, red eyes, and trench coats. I guess that helps the really stupid people in the audience differentiate between the good guys and the villains.

5) The tough chick #6 was trying way too hard to be cool.

Cool girls don't look at explosions!

I Am Number Four is your standard teen movie. The special effects were good but there was plenty of cheesy dialogue and plot holes. I give this 6.4 stars.

Devil

M. Knight Shyamalan has been on a downward trend for a while. I almost wrote him off after I saw The Last Airbender, so I had very low expectations for Devil when I heard it was written and produced by him.

I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised and thought this movie was actually quite entertaining. Devil is a suspenseful movie about 5 people who are trapped in an elevator together and one by one they are killed by supernatural forces.

This movie is a decent horror/mystery and it keeps you guessing. It has the usual plot twists and surprising developments you might expect from M. Knight. I give Devil 7.1 stars since I'm pleased he appears to be on an upswing again.

Source Code

Source Code is a science fiction movie that makes you think and stretches your mind kind of like The Matrix or Inception. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Captain Colter Stevens, a man who wakes up on a train where he has assumed the identity of someone else. He tries to figure out what is happening to him, but after 8 minutes, a bomb on the train explodes and kills everyone on board. He then wakes up in a chamber and is questioned about the events. He is disoriented and confused as he is continually sent back for 8 minute increments to try and find the bomber and change history.

This movie reminded me of Vantage Point since it kept replaying the same event over and over with different details or scenarios playing out each time. It also had a similar story line to Deja Vu. I love time travel movies, but Source Code claims to not use time travel, but some other complicated bogus explanation of how one can change the past. I'm not a quantum physics expert so I had to accept their explanation even thought I'm pretty sure this is not a true story.

I thought it was a little disturbing how the commanding officers were so detached for people who are trying to assist Gyllenhaal with his mission. It becomes apparent later into the movie why they are withholding so much information from him. Jeffrey Wright plays an awkward, uncaring scientist and was particularly unlikeable.

I liked Source Code, but like many science fiction movies that stretch your brain, it also leaves unanswered questions. For instance, what happened to the poor dude who's identity Gyllenhaal had assumed? Maybe we will see what happened to him if there is a sequel. I give it 7.7 stars.

Hereafter

Hereafter features three stories that revolve around the topic of death and life after death. The first involves a French survivor of a tsunami who has a near death experience. The second is about a young British school boy who loses his twin brother. The third features Matt Damon who plays an American with psychic abilities. These three stories take place in different countries but they are all woven together and eventually they meet one another in London for the culmination of the movie.

Hereafter is a slow paced drama but there are a couple disturbing action sequences involving a tsunami and a subway bombing. This movie deals with the afterlife and how death affects people, but it is still quite vague and doesn't preach any particular doctrine or give any concrete answers to the audience.

Damon gives a great performance of a psychic who is afflicted with a gift to communicate with the dead which he refers to as a curse. I appreciated the fact that he isn't mysterious or mystical. He doesn't hold a seance and it's not creepy, it's just an average guy who is straight forward and business like as he relays messages from the dead to their loved ones.

The saddest part of this movie was the story about a young boy who loses his twin brother. It was gut wrenching to see how depressing and lonely this boy's life was with no family support as he searched for a way to try and get his brother back. I'm glad this movie addressed the charlatan aspect of mediums who prey on desperate and vulnerable victims. I've heard some of them on the radio over the years and have just rolled my eyes at how blatantly predatory and clueless they are.

I really liked this movie. I can't remember the last time I was not impressed with a Clint Eastwood film. This was not a huge hit at the box office and it has its critics, but I really enjoyed it. I give it 7.6 stars despite an abrupt ending.