In the late 90s a lot of supposedly mysterious themes were explored in movies. Urban Legends, ghosts, nuclear power, vampires, the list goes on. In the Skulls, teen movies decide to take a look at secret societies.
The film stars Joshua Jackson as Luke McNamara, a young rower who wants to study for a law degree. But as a poor townie, it's going to be an uphill struggle to finish, unless a secret society known as the Skulls decides to make him a member.
Of course they do make him a member. The first thing we learn about secret societies is that they endorse the buddy system, and Luke is paired with Caleb Mandrake (the late Paul Walker), a boxer. Luke's room mate Will, decides it would achieve something to break into The Skulls secret chamber, and does so. Sadly all it achieves in doing is annoying Caleb, who pushes Will down a ledge, knocking him out. Caleb's father and Skulls big-wig Judge Litten (Craig. T. Nelson) tells his son he'll take care of it and orders some subordinates to kill Will and make it look like a hanging.
Luke is pretty shaken up about his friend's death, but not as shaken up as Caleb, who believes he killed the man. The rest of the movie is pretty much Luke working out what happened to his friend with help from another senior Skull Senator Ames Everitt (CSI's William L. Peterson), and love interest Chloe (Leslie Bibb). The ending is pretty satisfying without delivering anything unexpected.
The Skulls is a bit ridiculous at times, but it does work reasonably well in its own right. There's enough going on to keep you interested and the performers are all invested enough in the story to put out a sincere product. It is very much a product of its time, but fans of the era should check it out if they are looking for a trek down nostalgia lane. Not essential viewing by any means, but worth checking out if it comes on cable.
The film stars Joshua Jackson as Luke McNamara, a young rower who wants to study for a law degree. But as a poor townie, it's going to be an uphill struggle to finish, unless a secret society known as the Skulls decides to make him a member.
Of course they do make him a member. The first thing we learn about secret societies is that they endorse the buddy system, and Luke is paired with Caleb Mandrake (the late Paul Walker), a boxer. Luke's room mate Will, decides it would achieve something to break into The Skulls secret chamber, and does so. Sadly all it achieves in doing is annoying Caleb, who pushes Will down a ledge, knocking him out. Caleb's father and Skulls big-wig Judge Litten (Craig. T. Nelson) tells his son he'll take care of it and orders some subordinates to kill Will and make it look like a hanging.
Luke is pretty shaken up about his friend's death, but not as shaken up as Caleb, who believes he killed the man. The rest of the movie is pretty much Luke working out what happened to his friend with help from another senior Skull Senator Ames Everitt (CSI's William L. Peterson), and love interest Chloe (Leslie Bibb). The ending is pretty satisfying without delivering anything unexpected.
The Skulls is a bit ridiculous at times, but it does work reasonably well in its own right. There's enough going on to keep you interested and the performers are all invested enough in the story to put out a sincere product. It is very much a product of its time, but fans of the era should check it out if they are looking for a trek down nostalgia lane. Not essential viewing by any means, but worth checking out if it comes on cable.