Thanks to Universal Pictures for hosting us for a screening of this film!
Summertime is here. With that, comes hot weather, days at the pool, and, of course the BIG SUMMER ACTION BLOCKBUSTER.
Is Skyscraper that BSAB? Well, maybe. I guess it depends on what you’re looking for.
You’ve seen the ads since the beginning of the year. Dwayne Johnson hanging off a burning building. Dwayne Johnson jumping from a crane to a burning building. Dwayne Johnson punching a burning building in the face and it had it comin’.
Okay, maybe not that last one, but you get the idea.
Skyscraper follows Johnson’s character, Will Sawyer (who is a former FBI Hostage Rescue Team Leader-turned security specialist…ahem, backstory) to Hong Kong where he and his family live in the world’s tallest building. Will’s been commissioned to analyze the security of the building and give his final blessing before the building can officially open to the public.
Before long (seriously, like within the first 20 minutes or so), the bad guys come out of the shadows, take over the building, and set it on fire. “Why?” you may ask. Because MacGuffin. All in all, the whys and even the hows aren’t really the focus in this movie.
With the building on fire, and Will’s family trapped inside, it’s up to (obviously) him to get back into the burning building, beat the bad guys and save his family.
Throughout the movie, I had this overwhelming sense of déjà vu. I realized about halfway through that I felt like I was one saxophone solo away from watching an actioner from the late 80’s/early 90’s. It was all there: cartoon like villains, cartoon like heroes, ridiculous action and questionable dialogue. The flashback was almost jarring, though not necessarily a bad thing. Also, 90’s flick darling Neve Campbell plays Will’s wife and suddenly it felt like my flashback feelings were complete.
Obvious parallels are going to be had about this movie with Die Hard and even Towering Inferno, of course. I mean, it’s got a burning building, bad vaguely European bad guys with machine guns, exploding helicopters and more. But….
It also has ‘The Rock.’ Seriously. Dwayne Johnson is watchable in almost anything. As an extremely charismatic actor, he’s always been able to bring a great blend of action and humor/personality to anything he does.
Does he succeed here? Well, mostly. While I was hoping for a few more “wink at the audience knowingly” meta moments throughout the action absurdity, he played it surprisingly straight. By relying on more of his physicality through the movie and less of his charm, Johnson proves that he can, literally, muscle his way through a pretty over-the-top script. Skyscraper is a silly, fun, popcorn-eating action film. I think it’s a perfect way to beat the heat for 102 minutes this summer.
Skyscraper opens July 13th and stars Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, and Chin Han.
