Visiting Los Angeles for wealthy best mate Terry's (Donald Faison) birthday party, couple Elaine (Scottie Thompson) and Jarrod (Eric Balfour) have a blazing row.
The subsequent revelation that Elaine is pregnant slips to the back of their minds, when the next morning enormous alien spacecraft appear over the city and start hoovering up Los Angelians. With the extraterrestrials emitting a blue light that entrances anybody who looks at it, Jarrod and co soon realise that staring at the invaders is not a good idea.
Attempting to escape, they take off through the perilous streets of the ET-ravaged city as the killer aliens continue their merciless human harvest.
B-movie silliness abounds in this sci-fi special effects extravaganza, starring a group of actors who would struggle to get an audition on Hollyoaks. Fortunately, the Brothers Strause (yes, they actually choose to be called that) are CGI wizards who make up for the ludicrous script and ropey emoting with a pleasing panoply of alien mayhem that liberally cribs from the likes of Independence Day and Cloverfield
Having previously directed the atrocious Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, the duo are on firmer ground with this unpretentious bit of fluff, although not even the presence of Dexter's David Zayas and Scrubs star Faison can lift Skyline out of the dramatic doldrums.
That said, logic, scripting and the ability to deliver a line without accidentally making your audience laugh aren't always necessary when you have enormous aliens stomping all over Hollywood Boulevard.
Building to a fantastically bonkers conclusion, Skyline may not be Oscar material, but it doesn't skimp on the sensational set pieces.
Skyline is a Film programme that first aired in 2010 and has been classified a 15 certificate.
