Skyscraper

Skyscraper is written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, and stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Will Sawyer, a former soldier turned security tech expert, who is tasked with managing the security of Hong Kong’s new skyscraper, the Pearl. When a group of terrorists looking for a macguffin come in, framing him for a fire attack on the building with, Sawyer must now go in and rescue his family before the flames consume them.

Dwayne Johnson is the modern day Arnold Schwarzenegger: he was known for his muscles, but it's entertaining. He is a fierce intimidating wall, but he's a soft teddy bear. He brings people hope, despite no public politics. He's a bad actor, but man does he try his best...oh what, you don't agree with me on that last part? Well, sorry, but that's the truth; the Rock might be a charming guy, but he isn't the main reason most people go to see his movies. Hell, people tried to argue that he saved Baywatch from Zac Efron, who while was worse, the Rock wasn't any better in that movie.

This brings us to Skyscraper, a film people are saying isn’t that impressive. But why is that? Why isn't it being complimented as a throwback to (or rip-off in this case) classic action and disaster movies like Die Hard and The Towering Inferno? Maybe it might have something to do with the fact he's doing so many movies a year, it's not only becoming tiring, they're all starting to blend together. But what I can tell you right now, this movie was nowhere near as entertaining as it thinks it is. I found myself absolutely bored and pretty aggravated sitting through this movie, and that’s saying a lot for someone with low expectations.

Like I said before, despite the Rock trying his best, I never bought him as a former seal with a fake leg, as a lot of his stunts look as though he isn’t crippled at all. They really want you to believe that a man that big, with one real leg, could jump off a super crane from that height, onto the edge of a window; granted, it’s not as preposterous as they make it look in the trailer, but compared to everything else beforehand, it just feels out of place to me. Not to mention, the fact that he’s a former soldier turned security expert, doesn’t make him as relatable as someone like John McClane in the first Die Hard, who was a barefoot average joe cop. Even when he’s doing that climbing up and jumping from the super crane, or using duct tape to keep his balance on the windows, it’s just not believable. Also, with a building, shouldn’t it be harder to breathe when the windows open?

The rest of the cast is there to be the archetypes, as always. Neve Campbell is the wife; Chin Han is the wealthy secret holder; Pablo Schreiber is the corrupt friend; bad guys are...bad guys. This film is hardly giving me stuff to work with, people!

By now, plenty would argue that it’s just trying to be a dumb fun action flick, and nothing else, and I admit to enjoying that with a movie every so often; the problem is, Skyscraper never felt fun, or unique for that matter. Looking over the last six films that the Rock has done: while he was a major part of those films’ stories, he was accompanied by either someone like Kevin Hart or Vin Diesel, someone to work off of easily. I mean, his last film featured him fighting alongside a giant gorilla, against a giant flying wolf and dinosaur crocodile; the absurdity has reached a very high level. Not only that, but compare this to the recently released Mission Impossible: Fallout, where the main draw has become what crazy stunt Tom Cruise is going to attempt, but he at least he’s able to make it look and feel authentic, because it’s actually happening; hell, he did most of the insane crazy stuff that the Rock does in this movie, like scaling on the side of a building, back with MI: Ghost Protocol.

As for the part that tries to appeal to the DUMB side of dumb action movies, this one gets dumb to the point of being offensive, especially with how they fix the building’s security system. Even if I was enjoying the movie, that ending point would still bring me to where I am now: irritated by a cop-out ending. Again, I don’t care if it’s intentional, it’s still bad writing.

Overall, I don’t see how people could go see Skyscraper, even if you’re a big fan of the Rock; I’m just worried that studios aren’t going to learn from this, and try to give a little bit more space between releasing his movies, otherwise his popularity will burn out. Just stay home and rent Rampage instead; or better yet, wait until Christmas and watch Die Hard.

Rating: D-