Movie Review: Dark Skies
Dark Skies is actually a pretty good alien flick for several reasons:
- It deals with an isolated incident rather than a full-scale world invasion.
- It centers around a small, average family learning to believe in and accept the extraordinary events that are happening rather than members of a the government, military, or clandestine operation simply fighting aliens.
- It doesn’t blatantly show the creatures, but relies more on them keeping just out of sight to create suspense which is also helped by the use of some really creepy sound effects to indicate their presence.
It can be said that all of those things have been done before by movies other than Signs, but the similarities don’t stop there. The elder of the two brothers in Dark Skies had complications during birth and suffered from illnesses all is life, just like in Signs. Both films also feature two parental figures, one of whom readily accepts the extraordinary situation at face value while the other needs time to learn to believe. Prior to the climax, both films feature a sequence of the family boarding up the doors and windows of their homes in preparation for the aliens, followed by a scene at the dinner table in which the father tells his children stories about their early childhood to ease their fears. Each of the films even features pet German Shepherds that bark uncontrollably when the aliens are near. And without giving too much away, a pair of walkie-talkies in Dark Skies plays a similar role to the baby monitors in Signs. Even the sequence of the dead birds lying all over the family’s lawn in Dark Skies is reminiscent of a deleted scene from Signs.
However, despite the fact Dark Skies features many of the same themes and elements as Signs, it is not a remake, and has a plot that is taken in a quite different direction. The experience of the family in Dark Skies is an isolated incident, rather than a part of a full-scale invasion. Because of this the movie has a much stronger emotional core. The knowledge that events like this aren’t happening all over the world, and that there is no one out there to help or believe the characters makes their situation all the more terrifying; and because they are alone, they must rely on each other.
At the heart of this predicament is the husband and father, Daniel Barrett (Josh Hamilton). Daniel is a man currently out of work who is worried about providing for his family. With many attempts at finding new work but no success, Daniel is embarrassed by the fact that he’s having trouble filling his role in the family. Normally the role of the emasculated husband/father comes across as tired and forced, but Hamilton is able to sell it. A great help in this is Keri Russell playing the role of Daniel’s wife, Lacy. Together, the two are able to provide one of the better depictions of a tense married couple with financial problems in recent memory. The arguments between the two aren’t built from the all-too-typical “Why won’t you talk to me about this?” framework, but feature two partners who actually talk about the issues at hand and express their differing opinions on how to handle them. As the strange occurrences brought about by the aliens are introduced and begin to escalate, so does the intensity of their discussions. The way Daniel and Lacy choose to react so differently to their situation, and how they handle each others’ differences on the subject is where the writing in this film truly shines.
Daniel and Lacy’s sons Jesse and Sammy (played by Dakota Goyo and Kadan Rockett) provide another solid relationship among the main characters. Jesse and Sammy share a strong brotherly bond, with Jesse reading Sammy a story every night via walkie talkie as they lie in their separate bedrooms. As the film progresses and tensions run high, they switch from storytelling to discussing their parents’ quarrels and the dire situation their family finds itself in. But no matter what the subject, these scenes between the two brothers always prove to be the most poignant in the film.
What separates this movie from others of its kind is the understandable, relatable characters. With much more in-depth characterization than what we normally get in films like this, we’re really presented with a family drama in the guise of an alien thriller. This makes the fact that many of the supernatural elements were borrowed almost excusable, but the amount is still too great to call this a good film all on its own.
Grade: C+
Dark Skies
Directed by: Scott Stewart
Written by: Scott Stewart
Starring: Josh Hamilton, Keri Russell, Dakota Goyo, Kadan Rockett, J.K. Simmons
Release date: February 22, 2013
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