Dark Skies is a
moderately entertaining and mildly intelligent thriller, perhaps because
writer/director Scott Stewart seems to have taken notes on every successful
alien abduction/invasion film before writing his own screenplay. Even his style
of direction has a tint of Spielberg lightness to it, despite the darker
material about a family under attack from an otherworldly source. There is
little about Dark Skies which feels remotely original, I suppose with hope that
any ignorant younger audience member won’t be any wiser to the recycled content
they are being fed.
Keri Russell
and Josh Hamilton head up the cast as Daniel and Lacy Barrett, a seemingly
ordinary couple with two children living a normal suburban life until they are
marked by unseen aliens. A series of strange events begin to occur to the
family and Daniel and Lacy struggle to find a way to protect themselves from an
unknown assailant. Their only ally is a man whose life has been dedicated to
researching and fighting alien invaders. This role is somehow made believable
through the talents of J.K. Simmons.
The frazzled
couple discovers that the events are all leading up to the stealing of a child
from the home, so they hunker down and plan to fight back. This is somewhat
ridiculous in more than one way, proving that Dark Skies is also a film which
is unable to stand up to too much scrutiny. Better to just sit back and hope
the small thrills are enough for an evening of entertainment. I will say this;
Dark Skies attempts to tap into relevant social issues with the storyline,
though much of this gets lost with so little of the genre elements able to
impress audiences.
The Blu-ray
release includes alternate and deleted scenes, as well as a commentary track
with Stewart along with producer Jason Blum, executive producer Brian
Kavanaugh-Jones and editor Peter Gvozdas. The package also has a DVD and an
ultraviolet copy of the film.
Entertainment Value:
7/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 4/10
Historical
Significance: 2/10
Disc Features: 4/10
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