Rated: PG-13
Writer/Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
There is something so insanely stupid about Dwayne Johnson's Skyscraper, you have to applaud its sheer gall to exist. Like Die Hard mixed with The Towering Inferno with a dash of "Gilligan's Island" (because every time you think Johnson and/or his family is going to escape, something else happens) thrown in, Skyscraper is a brainless, fun, over-the-top live-action loony tune that - thankfully - keeps a toe-hold in reality thanks to the chill, effective performance of Neve Campbell (we've missed you, Neve!) as Mrs. Rock - er, Dwayne Johnson's wife. The plot is simple: Will Sawyer (Johnson) is a war vet and former FBI hostage rescuer who now helps companies big and small to assess/beef up their security systems, when he's all but handed the gig of a lifetime as he and his family are flown to Hong Kong to assist the billionaire creator of the world's tallest, safest skyscraper, rising 225 stories above the city. Will's there to help finalize the one-of-a-kind structure's security but alas, some stock company terrorists finesse access to the system first, the bulkier, more military-looking ones entering the building itself to start a fire on one of the upper floors - one floor away, of course, from where Will's family are staying, making them trapped. As if Will's day isn't going badly enough, the baddies also frame him for the crime, so with no help from the authorities and live news feeds painting him a criminal, how does a big, bulky ex-military hostage rescuer gain access to the building ... get all the way up to his family ... thwart the terrorists ... and find out what the hell's going on in the first place, so he can stop it? The film is merciless in what it puts Will Sawyer through in trying to save the day (and his wife and kids), the resulting action and suspense sequences so over-the-top nuts you can't help but sit back in awe, your brain safely tucked away in a desk drawer somewhere. The film most definitely has its moments, a little silly for me and I thought the ending too drawn out and anti-climactic, but for Rock fans seeking a more serious, Bruce Willis-y Rock than your usual smug, smiling slab of beefcake, Skyscraper makes for a suspenseful little rollercoaster ride. 6.5/10 stars
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