Review: Skyscraper, on fire with the Rock
When you want a good action movie, you need Jason Statham, Vin Diesel or The Rock nowadays! With SKYSCRAPER you can see a lot of references to older action flicks like Die Hard, Towering Inferno and The Fugitive, but without oneliners, gore or anything else but a family-friendly action movie.
Not that there is anything wrong with that. Just do not expect much more then that. Director Thurber takes many superficial elements: an Asian magnate, a skyscraper and European terrorists hacking in. But this has nothing to do with the power of Die Hard, or the bloody action, the uncensored one-liners, the charismatic antagonist and the sarcastic hero.
The synopsis reads:
Global icon Dwayne Johnson leads the cast of Legendary’s Skyscraper as former FBI Hostage Rescue Team leader and U.S. war veteran Will Sawyer, who now assesses security for skyscrapers. On assignment in China he finds the tallest, safest building in the world suddenly ablaze, and he’s been framed for it. A wanted man on the run, Will must find those responsible, clear his name and somehow rescue his family who is trapped inside the building…above the fire line.
In dissing a movie, this would have been more fun to most, but that is just not the case as Thurber turns Dwayne Johnson into a vulnerable and insecure family man, with an amputated lower leg after a disastrous previous confrontation with a terrorist. This fact alone would have been interesting if you add some PTSD into the mix, but why the dramatic tone is not used and therefore Dwayne is nothing more but a tame action hero here, is not clear.
Major props to the ‘Pearl’, a building which is a beautiful tower with built-in wind turbines and green parks, which together make for a perfect flames sea as soon as the pyromane terrorists break loose. Most action scenes throw it at the spectacle of the burning tower to compensate for the lack of violence between people.
If you are a fanboy of the genre then this is a fun ride. If you are a fan of the Rock, this is a must-see. What is also real good to see is Neve Campbell back on the silver screen. She is holding up very well in this movie and we at C4S can only agree we want to see more of her ánd The Rock in the future!
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Cast: Dwayne Johnson (Will Sawyer), Neve Campbell (Sarah Sawyer), Chin Han (Zhao Long Ji), Roland Møller (Kores Botha), Noah Taylor (Mr. Pierce), Byron Mann (Inspector Wu), Pablo Schreiber (Ben ), McKenna Roberts (Georgia Sawyer), Noah Cottrell (Henry Sawyer), Hannah Quinlivan (Xia)
Running time: 102 minutes
Year: 2018
About the Author
Richard Boom Richard is the driving force behind Comics for Sinners. His love and admiration for female comic book characters is virtually unparalleled, which immediately explains his biggest 'sin': his Hot Mummy fetish. This sketchbook theme is philogynistic in nature and even the source of his WIP comic book series "The Sisterhood".
