Skyscraper

Year: 2018
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Chin Han, Roland Moller, Byron Mann, Hannah Quinlivan


Plot: After losing his leg in a hostage situation gone wrong, FBI Hostage Rescue agent Will Sawyer is now a security consultant, recently hired by the owner of The Pearl, the tallest skyscraper in the world, located in Hong Kong. When terrorists lock down the building and start a fire, Will has to find a way to rescue his family who are trapped inside.


Review: From the moment the marketing for this film began, everyone labelled Skyscraper as a Die Hard or Towering Inferno clone. Personally I don't mind a popcorn film like Skyscraper revisiting familiar elements from those films mentioned if it achieves its objective in giving me solid entertainment. To that end, Skyscraper delivers.

Director Rawson Marshall Thurber, who directed star Dwayne Johnson in Central Intelligence, and directs mostly comedies, delivers a serviceable action movie that, although goes through the motions of checking all the boxes as far as thrillers go, still manages to give quite a few heart stopping moments and kick ass sequences. Having Johnson, the biggest star in Hollywood right now on board certainly helps as well.

Johnson succeeds in playing the role of an FBI guy turned everyman, who exchanges his gun for MacGyver style tactics in taking down the baddies. Having him sport a prosthetic leg doesn't hurt either. Neve Campbell might not be convincing enough in the role of Will's wife, but she excels in playing a tough mother trying to protect her kids. Chin Han is solid enough as Zhao, owner of The Pearl who is the main target of the terrorists, while Roland Moller is alright as lead villain Botha, who isn't colorful enough to be memorable unfortunately.

The film's action sequences are pretty good, with Johnson's death defying jump from a neighboring crane as seen in the trailers being the highlight. While Thurber delivers plenty of thrills, the plot itself is rather predictable and offers very little in terms of genuine surprises.

My advice to you is this: if you want to just sit back and enjoy a summer popcorn flick, Skyscraper is perfect for you. Just don't go in there expecting a top ten film of the year. (7/10)