BATTLE FOR SKYARK

7/4/2015

2015 / Director. Simon Hung.
Review by Glenn Cochrane.

I don't quite know how to approach this review. Despite having just watched BATTLE FOR SKYARK I am still uncertain about its intensions and targeted demographic. Was it made for television and pitched at adolescents? In which case it has a lot of merit... or was it made for theatrical or DTV? I do know that its budget was a measly $3M and that director Simon Hung definitely got bang for his buck. He has created a highly stylised science fiction film that plays out like MAX MAX 3 meets ELSYIUM. Interestingly he is a fellow alumni of the Vancouver film school, which Neil Blomkamp also graduated from. The film's set-up is simple. Earth has all but been destroyed by a vicious Alien race and the wealthiest survivors sought refuge in a giant floating city. The underclass were left on Earth to face inevitable slaughter. The few who survived were mostly kids and they protect themselves in a fort-like compound built from debris and wreckages. Whenever a law is broken on the Skyark the culprit is banished to Earth. And so the film sees the groundlings exploring ruins and facing off against barbaric mutants and other sinister forces. The set design is impressive, the costumes are great and the post-apocalyptic atmosphere is captured well, however it is too polished for its own good and has a television quality about it. I felt like I was watching an episode of Farscape. The score and sound design are also decent but yet continuously undermined by an inconsistent tone. Made for adults one minute and clearly kid orientated the next. It's a shame that one direction wasn't chosen over the other because BATTLE FOR SKYARK could have been a wonderful low budget sci-fi adventure. Throughout the process of writing this review I have kept mulling the demographic over in my mind and I am coming to the conclusion that it plays well as a kids film. If you have tween or teenage kids with a tolerance for scary and/or challenging imagery then they will probably get a kick out of it. Most adults wont...

11 Comments

Kari Mortenson

25/4/2015 11:50:51 am

This is a fair review. I appreciate that you point out the good with the bad. As someone who is close to the movie, my son is in it, I have to say that I feel the running time of the movie is it's downfall. Unfortunately as an independent film it can be no longer than 90 minutes. There was so much more that could have been added but had to be cut due to time constraints.

Simon did get bang for his buck. They spent the money where it was important; i.e. wardrobe, set design and make-up. For most of the actors this was their first big gig. I was impressed with everyone.

I'm hoping this is big with the "tweeners" as there are some pretty good looking kids in the film. I just don't know how far Lionsgate is going to go with promoting it. We'll just have to wait and see.

Rebecca_S

10/6/2015 08:05:07 pm

I just watched this, hoping it would be one of those overlooked gems, but I have to admit that I found it lacking in several areas. The story, although it has some good ideas, lacks a bit of originality, and it felt like the writer should have spent another year or so working on it. As it is, it just felt like a bit of a ripoff of half a dozen other post apocalyptic sci-fi films. The characters didn't get enough time to develop, and we didn't get enough time to get to know them before the big "dramatic tension" buildup scene for Rags took place. *SPOILER ALERT* I'm talking about the scene where he runs away from the ruins and has to "find his courage". This scene doesn't quite work, due to a number of unfortunate things. You know that with Rags being the hero, he'll eventually save the day, but this scene makes him seem annoying. The set design, art design, costumes and general atmosphere is by far the best part of the movie. These were good enough to give a feel of having a higher budget than the movie actually did. Unfortunately, the lack of a genuine purpose and a somewhat thin story, makes the whole thing quite boring though, which is the one really major flaw. I would imagine a lot of people losing interest after 30 minutes or so. It does feel like the producers meant for this to be the start of a franchise as well though, which I truly doubt will ever happen. I'm not even convinced they'll get back what they paid for it. If they'd only spent a bit more attention to details, this could've been a hit, but alas.

Dan

9/1/2016 04:18:38 pm

If I had directed or been involved with any part of this film I would be embarrassed.

Piercy

18/1/2016 03:33:59 pm

I'm looking all over to see about a sequel since it just ends abruptly.
It needs a sequel.
It has everything set up, finish it out strong.
Find some funding.
There is hope in it all.

Kent

23/1/2016 11:26:10 pm

Didn't connect with this film......kind of in a daze through it all...feelings of not worth the cost...may be a hit with teenagers...

25/1/2016 09:37:39 pm

Mark Erdmann

27/3/2016 07:55:11 am

I like SciFi but this movie is slow. After 30 min. I'm forcing my self to watch hoping it gets better, not to sure it will.

Terr20114

2/8/2016 03:11:30 pm

This movie... 15 minutes in and it feels weird cause the story is moving too fast. It feels rushed. You get a little info in the intro, something about monsters (the big black things with pointy claws big enough to consume a man with ome swallow are actually guys with alightly deformed faces, not much of monsters) then the story. 13 shadows guy comes in quickly seiftly. Fires one arrow and proves himself instantly, next day he wakes up n he's king of the place gone on a date with a girl who didnt see him do anything to win her heart. Saw his father shot in the head possibly a day before and not the least bit sad, not disoriented with the new life/ sorrundings etc. Its just crazy n im only 15 minutes in.

Pace

16/11/2017 02:18:43 pm

The film's production is amazing for that budget, but nothing will fix a poor script. As noted in other comments, the depths reached in these characters are the same as would be found if it were in a pre-kindergarten book.

Jake is the hero, he rides a motorcycle. He has a scar and his father died. He makes a new friend who has a scar. They go exploring. They meet a new friend. She knows of a special place...and after 28 pages, the bad boy is found out and everything is cool.

This story could've been quite good. These films make us realize how tight films like Back to the Future, ET or Raiders of the Lost Ark are. At the end of this movie, I'm left trying to remember exactly what interactions happened between the four remaining characters at the beginning. I still don't know who these people are. 5 minutes into a good script takes care of all of this. This was a great idea that should've been given to a decent screenwriter.

Robin Haspiel

20/1/2019 03:46:52 pm

I recently watched this film and thought it was quite good for a "film festival" type film.Makeup decent, costumes believable and scenery at an old junkyard well used. The story started out okay but got bogged down toward the middle. Instead of showing what happened to each character we were left to be filled in by the strong women characters that this is what happened to them. The surprise ending of the blue "cure" being the cause of the monsters was good but again could have come a bit earlier. Definately would like to see a sequel. Think too many critics get caught up in the Spielberg aura that they forget that films like these produced the Spielbergs and Ron Howards!

Ralph B link

12/1/2021 01:49:02 am

Great post thank yoou

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