Skyscraper (B- or 2.5/4 stars)
In the mood for a Die Hard/Towering Inferno hybrid this Summer? I offer you 'Skyscraper' (directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber). Is it as good as those action classics? Nnnnope. But despite the utter RIDICULOUSNESS with which Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson hurls himself into the copious 'suspension-of-disbelief' action scenarios, 'Skyscraper' is perfectly serviceable as a tense, nail-biting popcorn movie offering. Johnson stars as Will Sawyer as a former FBI hostage rescuer who lost his leg in a catastrophic explosion {which resulted in several tragic deaths and the loss of his leg}. Now married to his surgeon, Sarah (Neve Campbell, nice to see her back onscreen), & dad to two adorable kids -- twins Georgia & Henry (McKenna Roberts & Noah Cottrell) -- Will works in security.
He hopes to nab a job in Hong Kong with billionaire Zhao Long Ji (Chin Han, of Inception), who has constructed the world's tallest building, "The Pearl" {described as 3x the height of the Empire State Building}. Just as Will ascertains that the skyscraper's fire safety measures work, a group of mercenaries {a Scandinavian/Asian combo} breaks into the 4,000 ft. high "Pearl" & initiates a fire, disabling the security/fire suppression system, & setting it ablaze on the 96th floor. Will's family wasn't supposed to be in the building, but they returned early from seeing Pandas at the zoo, & now Will - on one leg(!) - must rescue them from well above the 96th floor before the "this ship can't sink! {wink, wink}" edifice actually crumbles from the sky. Chaos ensues.
I had a good time with 'Skyscraper' for most of the proceedings. The performances are amiable. The set-ups {origin of Will's artificial leg, a gimmick of "re-booting" a cell phone, Henry's asthma} are handled well. The pacing is smooth. There is tension abounding. And there are no less than 5 gripping sequences of heart-pounding suspense/terror. Having said that, the ludicrous nature of some of these action sequences - which Dwayne Johnson has to execute - grows exponentially with each passing one. A cross btwn. The Towering Inferno & Die Hard {2 vastly superior action/thriller classics}, 'Skyscraper' is at least helped by its 102 min. running time; no bloat here - where you're looking at your watch waiting for the pummeling to end.
Dwayne Johnson is a likable action star. This film EXISTS as a showcase for him as today's big action star ... and it exists for no other reason. He's basically superhuman here. The things he does and the lengths he'll go to save his family are OUTRAGEOUS. And gone are the "every man" heroics of Bruce Willis' John McClane in Die Hard. I really liked Neve Campbell as his wife, however; the loving wife/mom, but tough-as-nails combat surgeon who gets to do quite a bit more than your average damsel-in-distress. The bad guys are generic assassin types for the most part; very disappointing. I did enjoy one, though; ass-kicking Xia (Hannah Quinlivan). But none of them can hold a candle to, for example, Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber in Die Hard.
See 'Skyscraper' for the intense suspense, ephemeral thrills & loads of action, but don't expect much in the way of story or characterization -- but why can't we have it all!? Watch The Rock dangle near the top of the highest hi-rise in the world. Watch him use his prosthetic leg to get him out of all sorts of predicaments. And watch him utilize duct tape to save the day several times over. But The Rock's natural charms get lost amid the relentlessness of the CGI fires. Still, if you wade through the over-the-top moments & stupidities, there is more than enough excitement to get you over the finish line. I had a good time; which is what you're supposed to have during a summer blockbuster. Just don't expect the level of wise-cracky dialogue, stupendous villainry or stellar scripts of action classics from the past.
He hopes to nab a job in Hong Kong with billionaire Zhao Long Ji (Chin Han, of Inception), who has constructed the world's tallest building, "The Pearl" {described as 3x the height of the Empire State Building}. Just as Will ascertains that the skyscraper's fire safety measures work, a group of mercenaries {a Scandinavian/Asian combo} breaks into the 4,000 ft. high "Pearl" & initiates a fire, disabling the security/fire suppression system, & setting it ablaze on the 96th floor. Will's family wasn't supposed to be in the building, but they returned early from seeing Pandas at the zoo, & now Will - on one leg(!) - must rescue them from well above the 96th floor before the "this ship can't sink! {wink, wink}" edifice actually crumbles from the sky. Chaos ensues.
I had a good time with 'Skyscraper' for most of the proceedings. The performances are amiable. The set-ups {origin of Will's artificial leg, a gimmick of "re-booting" a cell phone, Henry's asthma} are handled well. The pacing is smooth. There is tension abounding. And there are no less than 5 gripping sequences of heart-pounding suspense/terror. Having said that, the ludicrous nature of some of these action sequences - which Dwayne Johnson has to execute - grows exponentially with each passing one. A cross btwn. The Towering Inferno & Die Hard {2 vastly superior action/thriller classics}, 'Skyscraper' is at least helped by its 102 min. running time; no bloat here - where you're looking at your watch waiting for the pummeling to end.
Dwayne Johnson is a likable action star. This film EXISTS as a showcase for him as today's big action star ... and it exists for no other reason. He's basically superhuman here. The things he does and the lengths he'll go to save his family are OUTRAGEOUS. And gone are the "every man" heroics of Bruce Willis' John McClane in Die Hard. I really liked Neve Campbell as his wife, however; the loving wife/mom, but tough-as-nails combat surgeon who gets to do quite a bit more than your average damsel-in-distress. The bad guys are generic assassin types for the most part; very disappointing. I did enjoy one, though; ass-kicking Xia (Hannah Quinlivan). But none of them can hold a candle to, for example, Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber in Die Hard.
See 'Skyscraper' for the intense suspense, ephemeral thrills & loads of action, but don't expect much in the way of story or characterization -- but why can't we have it all!? Watch The Rock dangle near the top of the highest hi-rise in the world. Watch him use his prosthetic leg to get him out of all sorts of predicaments. And watch him utilize duct tape to save the day several times over. But The Rock's natural charms get lost amid the relentlessness of the CGI fires. Still, if you wade through the over-the-top moments & stupidities, there is more than enough excitement to get you over the finish line. I had a good time; which is what you're supposed to have during a summer blockbuster. Just don't expect the level of wise-cracky dialogue, stupendous villainry or stellar scripts of action classics from the past.