Skyscraper manages to be a passable action thriller, but not quite passable enough. This could be easily described as Dwayne Johnson’s Die Hard, but not nearly as smart or clever that action classic.
Johnson stars as Will Sawyer, a former Marine turned FBI agent turned amputee who lives with his family in a giant skyscraper called The Pearl. It’s the largest and safest skyscraper in the entire world. “Fort Knox a mile high,” says The Rock at one point. Sawyer works as head of security for the building, but he thinks there are some cracks in the system and those cracks come in the form of armed terrorists who hold the building hostage.
Neve Campbell from the Scream movies costars as his wife who has to lead her family away from danger when Johnson is away and can’t get to them, but she proves to be very resourceful given her background as a combat nurse. That’s how she and Johnson first met after an unfortunate accident that caused him to become an amputee. Campbell is really good as his wife. She doesn’t have to worry about any of the terrorists wearing a Ghostface mask.
The rest of the movie does contain a series of action sequences that seemed ripped off from Die Hard, but it also contains another subplot involving Johnson being framed for murder when the terrorists strike and now it’s turned into Die Hard meets The Fugitive. Again, not as smart as either of those films.
The movie loves to recycle virtually every durable action movie cliche in the book: When someone claims to be Johnson’s friend, they turn out to be the Judas. When Johnson finds out his family is in a part of the skyscraper that involves him using tactics that might send him to his death, he becomes a cartoonish superhero. Plus, let’s not forget a scene where Johnson has to cross certain wires in order to open up a door.
I will say this about Skyscraper: You get your money’s worth in the action department. There are some terrific shots of Johnson in action and he can still carry a mindless movie like this solely on his charisma and physical prowess. He generates sympathy with his plight and he almost saves the movie. Almost.
Every leap forward there is with the effects, there’s a leap backwards with the script. Normally, I can welcome implausibility if it works enough for me, but when the plot elements are content on recycling what’s been done before and better, I have to draw the line.
Will this movie entertain the Friday night crowd? Certainly. However, this is not a very fresh or original action movie.
Grade: B-
(Rated PG-13 for sequences of gun violence and action, and for brief strong language.)
