Saw Skyline. It’s a fun movie with some very cool aliens and great action. Sadly, it’s ending is stupid. Or rather, it’s non-ending. I get that everything is about franchises and sequels at this point, but there’s a difference between leaving room for a sequel and refusing to end your story at a satisfying point. And Skyline is just another of a long line of disappointing films / books that don’t know how to do that.
Fortunately for you, I’m a professional novelologist, and I’m here to help.
Skyline isn’t weak because of how it ends. It’s weak because it ends at the wrong point. It ends halfway through a scene rather than at a satisfying conclusion that allows the audience to feel as if they’ve seen enough of the story to be happy and still be eager to see more of it. Which is why I’m going to fix that.
Naturally, this entails a SPOILER ALERT. If you want to be surprised by Skyline, go see it or wait for it on DVD or whatever. And when you’re done, come to me for the rest of the story.
Ready? Okay, here we go.
Jared, the alien warrior with the human brain, battles his way off the alien spaceship. With his pregnant wife in tow, he manages to escape to the city below. Of course, the invaders give chase and there’s an exciting fight through the city streets. Inevitably, Jared is cornered and as he and his wife stare down the aliens come to terminate them, it looks like the end.
It’s then that a second alien with human consciousness appears and teams up with our heroes to beat back the bad guys. Of course, if there is one alien warrior posssessed by its human mind, there are others. And so the new hybrid leads our protagonists to a small gathering of various human alien heroes (along with a ragtag group of human survivors) who are mad as hell and aren’t going to take it anymore.
Just then, a huuuuge invader bursts through the walls. Jared and the hybrids charge forward. The real battle for the future of Earth has just begun.
THE END.
I like this ending because A) it leaves ample room for a sequel and B) monster fights are awesome! It doesn’t tie everything into a neat little bow, but it lets us know that stage one of the invasion is over and that the humanity as huddling victims is done. It’s time to fight.
So there. Problem solved. And I won’t even charge the producers of Skyline a cent for fixing their movie. Because I’m cool like that.
Fighting the good fight, Writing the good write,
Lee
