Not since Catwoman has a genre film received this much publicity and this many poor reviews at the same time. Since we can’t be convinced to see it and no one issued us passes, we’re going to open the discussion with quotations from name reviewers:

“…the cinematic equivalent of root canal.”
–Rob Vaux, Mania

“It’s finally here: The most boring alien-invasion movie ever.”
–Joe Neumaier, The New York Daily News

“The film starts out pretty poorly and goes downhill….”
–Jim Mourgos, MovieWeb

“If all you want is a combination of some slightly above-average special effects and the worst screenplay not credited to Akiva Goldsman, you’ll adore Skyline. In the realm of wars of the worlds titles, it barely bests Plan 9 from Outer Space. As slick, computer generated eye candy, it more or less passes the test. But since the spectacle is interrupted by scene after scene of community college level acting and grade school plotting, the ‘wow’ factor can’t win us over.”
–Bill Gibron, Filmcritic.com

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Just my luck. I’ve got a talking dog, and I can’t understand a word he says.

Post-Halloween, we have two more seasonal reviews, but we’re doing them as one. I know that may not be fair, but they share writers, director, cast, concept—and the fact that, despite substantial flaws, they succeed where big-budget versions utterly failed. These films, made in 2009 and 2010 (the second one premiering on Halloween) do a passable job of bringing Scooby-Doo to live action and, along the way, solve two of the franchise’s three biggest mysteries.

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