Skyscraper
3/4
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Roland Moller, Chin Han, Hannah Quinlivan, Pablo Schreiber
Rated PG-13 for Sequences of Gun Violence and Action, and for Brief Strong Language
Dwayne Johnson must have a thing for retro action movies. With appearances in movies like "The Other Guys," "Pain & Gain," and "San Andreas," he appears to like films that hearken back to an era before the sequel/reboot addiction and the superhero obsession. Movies where the charisma of the star and the requisite visceral thrills meant more than plot originality or character development. Or intelligence. In that sense, "Skyscraper" works. It's loud, dumb and utter nonsense, but it's fun.
Zhao Long Ji (han) has just done the impossible: he has built "The Pearl." A building four times the size of the Empire State Building and functioning as its own independent city, The Pearl is already open to commercial enterprises on the bottom half of the building, but the residential zones need someone to sign off on their safety features. That job goes to Will Sawyer (Johnson), a former officer who switched jobs after he lost his leg in a hostage situation gone bad. Now at The Pearl with his wife Sarah (Campbell) and children (McKenna Roberts and Noah Conttrell), he is excited to see his new life take off. But that all is about to change when terrorists seize control and set the building on fire. With his family still inside, Will has to try and save them by any means possible.
This is a movie where it pays to turn off your brain and not ask questions. Questions like: is it possible to scale the side of a skyscraper if your hands are covered in duct tape? Or is it geographically feasible to build such a tall building? Or would a skyscraper collapse from structural failure if the middle portion of the building was a raging inferno? I don't know if the filmmakers thought of these questions, much less be able to answer them. In any case, it doesn't matter. Questions like that have no place in a movie like this.
Dwayne Johnson doesn't have great dramatic range, but then again neither does Arnold Schwarzenegger. He does have tremendous physical presence and genuine screen appeal, and that's enough for an action movie with the title of "Skyscraper." You don't go into a movie like this expecting something like "Boyhood" or "The Deer Hunter." Johnson brings his muscles and ability to make ridiculous stunts seem plausible, and that's all that's needed. Neve Campbell proves that being 45 doesn't mean she can't kick ass and scream with the rest of them. Chin Han is convincing as a billionaire in a suit. Roland Moller is a lackluster villain that comes from the shelf of generic bad guys. He's less threatening than a Labrador. Far more interesting is Xia (Quinlivan), his second-in-command. She's a vicious killer, and the movie would have been much better had she been afforded more screen time. Special mention has to go to Byron Mann who, for once, isn't playing a character that is unbearably irritating. Possibly because he doesn't have many lines.
"Skyscraper" was directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber. He knows the appeal of this genre and what fans expect, and on those levels, he delivers. This isn't highbrow entertainment, and it won't dominate the Oscar telecast. Anyone who goes into a movie called "Skyscraper" starring a former wrestler expecting something that would have made Stanley Kubrick proud is a fool. This is a movie built for a multiplex, complete with buttery popcorn and a large slurpee. It's eye candy, but at least it's good eye candy.
Bottom line? I had fun and I was satisfied. Nuff said.
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Roland Moller, Chin Han, Hannah Quinlivan, Pablo Schreiber
Rated PG-13 for Sequences of Gun Violence and Action, and for Brief Strong Language
Dwayne Johnson must have a thing for retro action movies. With appearances in movies like "The Other Guys," "Pain & Gain," and "San Andreas," he appears to like films that hearken back to an era before the sequel/reboot addiction and the superhero obsession. Movies where the charisma of the star and the requisite visceral thrills meant more than plot originality or character development. Or intelligence. In that sense, "Skyscraper" works. It's loud, dumb and utter nonsense, but it's fun.
Zhao Long Ji (han) has just done the impossible: he has built "The Pearl." A building four times the size of the Empire State Building and functioning as its own independent city, The Pearl is already open to commercial enterprises on the bottom half of the building, but the residential zones need someone to sign off on their safety features. That job goes to Will Sawyer (Johnson), a former officer who switched jobs after he lost his leg in a hostage situation gone bad. Now at The Pearl with his wife Sarah (Campbell) and children (McKenna Roberts and Noah Conttrell), he is excited to see his new life take off. But that all is about to change when terrorists seize control and set the building on fire. With his family still inside, Will has to try and save them by any means possible.
This is a movie where it pays to turn off your brain and not ask questions. Questions like: is it possible to scale the side of a skyscraper if your hands are covered in duct tape? Or is it geographically feasible to build such a tall building? Or would a skyscraper collapse from structural failure if the middle portion of the building was a raging inferno? I don't know if the filmmakers thought of these questions, much less be able to answer them. In any case, it doesn't matter. Questions like that have no place in a movie like this.
Dwayne Johnson doesn't have great dramatic range, but then again neither does Arnold Schwarzenegger. He does have tremendous physical presence and genuine screen appeal, and that's enough for an action movie with the title of "Skyscraper." You don't go into a movie like this expecting something like "Boyhood" or "The Deer Hunter." Johnson brings his muscles and ability to make ridiculous stunts seem plausible, and that's all that's needed. Neve Campbell proves that being 45 doesn't mean she can't kick ass and scream with the rest of them. Chin Han is convincing as a billionaire in a suit. Roland Moller is a lackluster villain that comes from the shelf of generic bad guys. He's less threatening than a Labrador. Far more interesting is Xia (Quinlivan), his second-in-command. She's a vicious killer, and the movie would have been much better had she been afforded more screen time. Special mention has to go to Byron Mann who, for once, isn't playing a character that is unbearably irritating. Possibly because he doesn't have many lines.
"Skyscraper" was directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber. He knows the appeal of this genre and what fans expect, and on those levels, he delivers. This isn't highbrow entertainment, and it won't dominate the Oscar telecast. Anyone who goes into a movie called "Skyscraper" starring a former wrestler expecting something that would have made Stanley Kubrick proud is a fool. This is a movie built for a multiplex, complete with buttery popcorn and a large slurpee. It's eye candy, but at least it's good eye candy.
Bottom line? I had fun and I was satisfied. Nuff said.
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