Skyscraper (Quick Review)

Skyscraper is in many ways a hybrid imitation of the 1984 action thriller Die Hard and the 1974 action disaster The Towering Inferno.  It is also an inferior film to both its predecessors.  That said, Skyscraper is still a mildly enjoyable popcorn flick if you don’t expect anything more than what its trailers present.

But first, the negatives.  Skyscraper is very predictable and really hammers down on emphasizing Chekhov’s Guns to the point where there are no unexpected twists.  The film’s two gimmicks are severely underutilized.  The titled two hundred and forty stories tall skyscraper has around three to four of its levels showcased.  Skyscraper completely drops the ball by not exploring its giant building nor getting creative with the various floors traversed by its characters.  The protagonist’s prosthetic leg slightly impacts the story a whopping two times throughout.  The leg should have either played a more significant role in the story or been scrapped completely as it is mostly extraneous the finalized plot.

There is fun to be found in Skyscraper.  The good comes in small doses, but it builds up throughout the film’s run.  Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is an expectedly fun, charming protagonist with some badass and humorous moments (I got a good chuckle when he goes to sledgehammer down a door, only to, last second, try turning the handle to successful results).  Both child actors (McKenna Roberts and Noah Cottrell) give solid performances and play genuinely likable characters.  I enjoy how the wife (Neve Campbell) and police inspector (Byron Mann) team up to pinpoint the villains’s location, and I especially appreciate the surprising lifespan and competency of the skyscraper’s rich financier (Ng Chin Han).  There’s also a creatively entertaining fight sequence during the finale.

Skyscraper’s most impressive feat is how it builds a sense of acrophobia as its protagonist desperately climbs around outside the burning building.  I genuinely got tense a few times as The Rock shimmied thousands of feet in the air, nearly falling to his doom several times (it's one of the few times his prosthetic leg plays a role).  Skyscraper is silly popcorn entertainment that gives exactly what it trailers present—nothing more.  There are similar, better-told stories that have come before—and I recommend you watch them—but if you’ve seen the trailers and think Skyscraper looks fun, then it might be worth a trip to the theaters.