Back in 2010 the alien invasion flick Skyline was unleashed in theaters to mixed results. Despite some issues, I still actually enjoyed the flick and had heard they were planning more films, but it looked as that was never going to happen. Almost out of nowhere the trailer for the next chapter Beyond Skyline hit the web and looked to be taking it to a different level featuring the always awesome Frank Grillo, Jacob Vargas, Antonio Fargas, Callan Mulvey, and Jonny Weston along with The Raid stars Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian. Could this R rated entry into this unexpected franchise offer up something more for fans or will it fail to go beyond anything?

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Beyond Skyline follows a tough-as-nails detective embarks on a relentless pursuit to free his son from a nightmarish alien warship. This next chapter is set concurrently with the previous Skyline film but in a different undisclosed location during the worldwide alien invasion. After seeing the trailer for this film I was pretty stoked if for no other reason than getting to see Grillo, Uwais and Ruhian and they did not disappoint. To my surprise this film jumps right into things and offers up way more time with the aliens than the previous film did. There is a silly Sci-fi cheese element to it, but that is also part of the cheese. At the same time they take it as serious as possible which helps the viewer to get in on the fun.

 

The story is pretty simple and not something we haven’t seen before in other sci-fi films, but it is a lot of fun to watch. The effects were decent and way better than I expected most of the time although there are moments that are pretty cheesy. Grillo is great as always and all in to bring this character to life. While the character is pretty generic Grillo brings that rugged something special to him to make you want to see him kick some ass. If you have seen the Raid then you already know what to expect from Uwais and Ruhian, but throw in the alien element and it was so much more than I thought it would be. Sure the choreography isn’t anywhere near the perfection of the Raid series, getting to see them throw down against aliens made the movie so worth it most notably seeing an alien throw a turning back kick. (not kidding!)

 

This is a film that stands on its own, but does have some connections to the original film. Have no fear if you have never seen it, they give you enough info to just jump right in with this film. The ending sets up the possibility of more films as well as the obvious ability to tell other stories that happen at the same time like this one, but only time will tell with where this goes and how it does.