“Dark Skies” is one of those films that didn’t interest me
in the beginning. The film’s trailer looked like another boring film. When I
feel that way, I usually don’t watch the film. Still, I figured I give the film
a shot since I enjoyed the films that producer Jason Blum has recently produced.
The film follows a husband and wife who are struggling with
everything but still live in a nice quiet neighborhood. One night, they witness
something mysteriously has going on in their house. The events become more
disturbing and soon effects the whole family. Soon, they begin to notice that
they’ve been marked by a mysterious and terrifying force. Now they must fight
to survive and unravel the mystery of what or who is after them and their
family.
Film Review:
Going into “Dark Skies”, I was expecting to not like this
film, considering that the film’s trailer didn’t interest me. It looked like
another of those boring alien abduction films. Surprising, this was an
interesting film that keeps my interest throughout.
One of the reasons for that was the way that Scott Stewart
handles the direction. He does a very good job making everything feel dark.
From the look of the film to the film’s tone, he does a good job making sure
that everything has gloomy feel to it. If the film didn’t have that feel to it,
then it would’ve lost my interest immediately since I’m not too fond of alien
abduction films. It also helped the film overcome its low budget especially in
its final act. The performance were also good. Stewart makes sure the
performances kept your interest, as it’s hard to do with a film like this. He
does that very well, by making the performance have an intensity to the
situation. It made me interested in both Keri Russel’s and Josh Hamilton’s performances,
as I was interested in this film.
Stewart’s screenplay was also good. One of thing that he
does right is making sure the film had a consistent tone to it. The tone of the
story was dark from the beginning to the end of the film. It made the story
more engaging to me and suspenseful than what you usually see from alien
abduction films. The other thing that I liked about the screenplay was the fact
that the character and the action is developed. Stewart does a good job making
sure that he takes his time developing everything. Whether it’s the way he
develops the family’s history to how the action builds up, it doesn’t feel
rushed or forced. It made it into a better story and also helped with the
film’s twist at the end. It made me more into the story then I would be with a
film like this.
Blu-Ray Extras.
There isn’t many extras on the disc. First, the film’s audio
commentary track with writer/director Scott Stewart and producer Jason Blum.
This was a good commentary track. I liked how the both of them go into the
various aspects of the production and the film’s screenplay. It provided
interesting stories about the film. It worth a listen, as this provides the
information that you’re looking in a track like this.
After that, the disc wraps up with deleted scene with
optional commentary.
The only grip that I have with this disc was there weren’t
any behind the scenes featurettes. It would have been nice to hear the cast
talk about the film and their characters. It would’ve added another perspective
on its making of. Instead, you only have the commentary track to go by.
Final Summary:
“Dark Skies” is one of those films that surprises for the quality of acting and storytelling. It’s worth checking out, if you’re into alien abduction thrillers.
Review Rating: Three and a Half Star
Blu-Ray Extras: Two Stars
