Director: Kai Blackwood.
Writers: Mark Reilly and Michael Cornacchia.
Grey Skies is certainly no Fire in the Sky, but that is too high a standard to aspire to. Instead, what this film does is to take some basic ideas, work with it and take a different direction that the television show "X-Files" tries to explore. Cinematographer Gavin Fisher certainly offers some beautiful visuals in the first act and keeps the imagery striking for the first half. But as for how well this flick will perform in a greater stage, that depends. This movie is at least off to a good start.
The mood is established right away with some music that conjures forth recollections of Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells." The tritonic soundscape is used sparingly. It establishes the fact that there will be a danger down the road.
Robert (Aaron McPherson; "24," Streetkings) and Jenny (Stacy Jorgensen; "Criminal Minds," Austin Powers 2) are at the heart of this film. Also in this rag-tag group is a couple Michael (Michael Cornacchia, "Hannah Montana Series") and Jeff (Jeff Schuetze, "Unsolved Mysteries"), who provide for a contrasting point of view of an effective relationship. Also present is Hayden (Jeff Lorch, "Young and the Restless"), a surfer dude who gets a lot more action than he deserves when the tale gets going.
This cast certainly makes for some good on-screen dynamics, but after a few days of family drama in a lonely luxury cabin in the woods, everyone's lives take a turn for the worse. There is trouble in Robert and Jenny’s romantic world. After witnessing a spectacular meteor shower where one meteorite crashes nearby, two members in this tightknit group insist on trying to go find it.
By the morning the visual metaphors kick in hard in true fairy tale fashion. By venturing into the woods, so does the mysterious world of UFO legends and lore start to widen. Hayden did not return last night and he’s discovered naked in the mud.
Watching this film is almost like watching Invaders from Mars. The visual cues are there, and in true B-movie style fashion, a few of the witnesses have to insist on looking at the crash site. The glow from the distance is too enticing, and the group starts showing a bit of strain as some closet skeletons come out of the door. They are not behaving like they should. That leads to some small moments of human drama, but that barely helps rescue the remainder of the movie. This film slowly degenerates to an atypical scenario of everyone freaking out, but where that goes bears some analysis.
Somebody has to save the day. That person has to become the mantle of where all sense of duty and honour is important. That also includes how important Robert and Jenny's bethrothment is to the narrative. When their lives are shattered, the alien visitation is mirrored with what the character of Jenny represents to the two main characters. Someone's life is going to fall apart. But in what happens next, this film is better off if it ended at a different point, than to build upon it.
These aliens are here for a reason after all. Too bad Mulder and Scully weren’t here to explain it.
Overall: 6.75 out of 10.
The film's official website is here:
The Grey Skies Homepage
| | |
Advertise Here - Contact me Michael Allen at 28DLA
Subscribe to 28 Days Later: An Analysis Email Subscription
0 comments:
Post a Comment