Skyscraper

Since no human adversary is any match for The Rock, as he has shown us in past movies, he must now take on non-human adversaries. This time, he's taking on a building. But not just any building. He's taking on a skyscraper-the most formidable and the most phallic of all buildings.

If it sounds ridiculous, that's because it is. The story is largely ridiculous, and although The Rock never actually fights the building (because it's a building), the danger that the building poses is a much greater threat than any posed by the actual villains of this film.

The villains are lame, cardboard cutout characters. They're evil because they're evil-no explanation given, no effort. So, I consider the skyscraper the main adversary in this film since its sheer height and the raging fire it contains threatens The Rock's family. I won't mention The Rock's character's name because I never once thought of him as anyone other than The Rock. The only thing here distinguishing him from the characters he plays in other movies, is his love for duct tape. This is a very pro-duct tape movie.

In this movie, The Rock is awesome because The Rock is always awesome. Speaking of awesome, I have to give it up for Neve Campbell. I should have known from the many times I watched the 'Scream' movies, but Neve Campbell is one tough cookie. She takes down her share of bad guys along the way, fearlessly and intelligently defending her kids. Well done.

Rooting for The Rock (and any of his friends or family) is one of my favorite things to do at the movies. It's amazing that The Rock has been so built up in the minds of viewers as an indestructible force that writers now have to manufacture weaknesses for him in movies, such as an artificial leg. It's as if the audience would believe all the challenges of this movie would be too easy for him if he had both his natural legs.

While there are a million and one plot holes, that's definitely not something you're supposed to look for in this movie. Certain movies are not meant to be dissected, and one involving a man jumping from one tall structure across the sky into a much taller structure that's on fire, is certainly one of them.

In addition to the film's inherent silliness, it also attempted several awkward jokes within the first few minutes, all of which whiffed. Characters followed up with "I'm kidding." That's usually a reliable indicator that the joke bombed terribly.

Despite all the flaws, I still had a good time watching this. The Rock is charismatic enough to carry any action movie to a reasonable level of watchability. Thanks to him, this one is reasonably watchable.

Skyscraper's premise is pretty easy to put together, the poster for the movie almost encompasses it entirely. With a high rise building on fire, Will Sawyer (Dwayne Johnson) must save his wife Sarah (Neve Campbell) and his kids from a team of terrorists led by Kores Botha (Roland Moller). This isn't new, you've got the classics like Die Hard and this movie uses them as a foundation to build upon. Does it differentiate from those movies? I think it does but not always in a good way. There are times where the screenwriter (Rawson Marshall Thurber pulling both writing and directing duties) seems to be tipping his cap to the audience (the jokes around duct tape work the best) but as the movie slips farther and farther into cliche and implausibility, the more difficult I have extending that praise. How in on the joke was the creative team? I honestly don't know, I want to believe they were but some of the decisions the characters make contradict that line of thinking (this is a continual problem not just a one off).

Getting past whether the writer/director was aiming for this kind of film or if they stumbled into it, I have to credit the cast for making lemonade out of lemons. Dwayne Johnson is a bona fide movie star and he gives a decent performance. He tries as hard as he can, and he works in this more often than he doesn't. I thought Neve Campbell was pretty good, she had believable chemistry with Dwayne and she breathes life into what could be a stale character. Chin Han was solid, it was nice to see him in a bigger part and he does his job. Skyscraper doesn't do Noah Taylor or Roland Moller any favours in their respective roles as Mr. Pierce and Kores. I think Roland comes off a little better, but Noah is doomed by his higher profile and you can see where he's heading from moment one. I also felt bad for Pablo Schreiber as Ben, he's a great actor but he hasn't had the best of luck picking projects now that he's transitioning to movies.

Skyscraper has a sizeable budget and the quality of the visual effects benefits for the most part. There was never a point that I was put off by a bad piece of CGI or disappointed from a visual standpoint. The movie has a few nice cinematography moments (they make the most out of the hall of mirrors room cliché) and the fights were okay. Dwayne wasn't 100 percent consistent in acting like an amputee (he's really limping in some scenes, in others not so much) but the action is passable.

I do have plenty of complaints when it comes to Skyscraper, but I can't get deep into them without spoiling big moments in the film. Most of them centre around character motivations (is this really the easiest thing the terrorists could think of to get what they need?), character decisions (I admire Will's commitment to his family but considering what happens, why would he believe his family is still alive at the midpoint?) and really cheesy choices that undermine the thriller aspects of Skyscraper. They would have derailed the movie for me if I hadn't been having such a good time laughing and wondering where they would go next.

I didn't give this movie a high rating, but I was genuinely surprised with how much fun I had with Skyscraper. Did I feel bad for giggling at the implausibility of the plot? A little... the theatre was 1/2 full but the friend I saw this with had the same reaction. Expectations are key when deciding to watch this movie. If you've seen some movies like Skyscraper, the plot twists are going to be obvious, the sentimentality is going to make your eyes roll (even if the actors and actresses are selling out to make it work), and there are going to be some head shaking moments that will try your patience. But I give the cast, the visual effects department and the screenwriter a pat on the back for doing their best and taking what could be a trainwreck into an enjoyable 1hr and 45minutes at the theatre. If you're looking for a turn-your-brain-off style action/thriller with high production values and a talented group of actors, this movie could scratch that type of itch.

"Skyscraper" Or: "The Rock does Die Hard" Genre: Action/Heist

Like it or not, Dwayne Johnson is the biggest action star (and I'm not just talking about is 275lb frame) out there right now. When you go to watch one of his movies, you can expect over the top action and not a whole lot of feelings. I'm still kind of surprised that in "San Andreas" he didn't just close the fault back up with his biceps or stop the earthquake with his pecs. This being the era of The Rock, we see Johnson in at least 2 or 3 movies a year...Skyscraper being the 3rd I've seen in 2018. While I wait with teeth grinding anticipation for the "Big Trouble in Little China" reboot, let's get the Lowedown on Skyscraper with an aspect breakdown.

Cast=7 Dwayne Johnson is worth three points for his biceps alone...I know I went to the theater just cause I knew he's in it. Neve Campbell returns to the silver screen as the wife and earns two points...then Chin Han and Byron Mann earn one point each. This was enough to earn seven points out of the gate. Acting=7 The acting was actually pretty good across the board...I would probably award five points if Neve Campbell wasn't in this movie. Campbell still has the chops and really stole the show from an acting standpoint. I will have to add a couple points just for her...so that would make seven points here too. Plot=8 A security expert must infiltrate a burning skyscraper, 225 stories above ground, when his family are trapped inside by criminals. Ok...it's really "Die Hard" only with a bigger building and a bigger hero. Did that make it better? Not by a long shot...but it was a simple concept that allows for little need for character development. Eight points for plot...yay! Ending=8 The biggest thing I want in an ending is closure. But from an action movie, I want the most epic action at the end than the rest of the film. I definitely got the action and the closure...the foreshadowing made the ending predictable, so I can't give full points. Let's say eight points for the ending... Story=5 I was not a fan of the story...they left a lot of hole just to try to explain what Johnson did and why the bad guys were in the building. There was a bit too much character development for Johnson, but not enough for Campbell and her role was just as important. Throwing a five at the building for the story. Favorite Quote: "If you can't fix it with duct tape... you ain't using enough duct tape."

Genre: Action Violent=9 It's an action movie and that means I WANT VIOLENCE!!! I can't award full points for this, as it's PG-13. It's like putting a noise suppressor on a Harley...it kind of defeats the purpose. But I guess the purpose was to make as much money as possible in the Theater. As such, nine points will go to this movie for the epic sky crane jump. Pace=7 An Action movie, unlike Drama, needs to have a great pace. The acting and the story can't keep you, so it has to be the explosions and car chases. The pace was good...a little lag in the beginning with the character development, but once the fit hits the shan (see how I switched that?) the pace is really good. Seven points for Slitherin. F/X=10 For an Action movie...I want great CGI sure, but I want some real stunt work. I realize you have to do some things with a computer and a green screen...I also want some work with a stunt crew and the actors doing some of their own stuff. This was the one great thing about the film! The fire F/X was great and the stunts in and out of the building were nice. Ten points will be added to the score...

Sub-Genre: Heist Heist=5 Sorry if this is a spoiler, but of course you have to know the bad guys are after something right? If they are trying to take something as the main plot, then this is a heist movie. I just wasn't feeling what they were trying to do. I can't say it was good or bad, so I'll go with meh here...Five points. Chemistry=6 In a heist movie, I want chemistry with the robbers. A definite leader and a team of specialists to perform a certain task is what I want to see. While there is a leader, the rest of the team is not fully realized. Despite them being armed. At no point did I feel like they could beat The Rock...six points. My Score: 7.2 "Skyscraper" does not hold it's weight as a heist movie, but it's pretty solid as a straight up action flick. It manages to one-up Die Hard in height alone...it's taller but it will never be bigger. It's the same thing I told my kids when they became taller than me in junior high school. If you didn't get to see this in the theater...just hang in there for the video release.

I was pretty entertained. The Rock is a capable actor but he's always gonna impress more with his charisma than range. But this "dad" type role suited him well. And while he's still former military/police, he comes across more as capable than physically dominant like he often is in other films. This trait is enhanced by his disability set up in the beginning of the film.

The movie has a pretty unbelievable plot and storyline but the editing is fairly strong. The story is kept moving and events are explained quickly to keep things going and avoid getting caught up in any convoluted plot points trying to explain why anything is the way it is. I really think the pace was the strongest part of this film.

The climax is where the motivations get a little bogged down in a conveniently contrived backstory to explain why the villains are motivated.

All that said, it's a solid action flick with a bit of heart, a lot of explosions and some fun fights mixed in with a lot of high wire acrobatics by The Rock that will definitely make your palms sweat.

Personally, I'd say this is The Rock's best lead role since his early days in The Rundown and Walking Tall. I certainly enjoyed it far more than I anticipated. I think the beginning scene could've been just explained through backstory and the explanation about the villains before the climax was pretty cheesy, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the film.

Actors were all mostly decent, I cheered for the main character and it's a family oriented action film so you know it has a happy ending. But it still did a decent job of making things suspenseful and enjoyable along the way.

Usually I like movies with "The Rock" - but this is lame. It has some good ideas but it is not thrilling. Noticeable: The biggist tower of Hongkong is burning and I saw no single fireman in the whole movie. That's Hollywood.