You may not remember... or you might not be old enough... or it's just been too long... or maybe you do remember... but Summer used to be the TIME to go to the movies. They weren't just movies. They were events. Summer packed people in shoulder to shoulder to see the new action epic or high concept comedy. Yeah, I know Summer is still kinda like this, but back in the 80s and 90s these big budget epics were wholly original films. Summers lately have been pervaded by sequels and comic book adaptations and prequels and spinoffs and rarely is there a brand new concept like Summer movies used to be. It's July and people are standing in long lines waiting for The Rock or waiting for Independence Day or waiting for Twister or Men in Black or Liar Liar or Air Force One. It's a rarity that people gather in droves for the newest action or comedy in Summer that doesn't have a familiar title attached to it. There also aren't many stars in Hollywood that can bring audiences out by sheer fame of name alone. However, The Rock is one of these people. Attach his name to anything and you'll literally cough money into the hands of a box office attendee. One thing you can respect about Dwayne Johnson is he's willing to take risks. He's willing to take a spec script with no franchise attached to it, and agree to star in it - knowing full well it'll make a truckload of money because he's the face of it. Skyscraper may not be the best movie DJ has attached himself to... but it FEELS like a Summer movie from the 90s. And for that - I heartily recommend it.
I know it looks like a handful of different movies - Skyscraper is, indeed, an original film. I wouldn't say it "rips off" these movies, but it certainly pays homage to terrorist/disaster movies of the 70s and 80s, namely The Towering Inferno and Die Hard. DJ plays Will Sawyer, an ex-cop who lost a leg in the line of duty, runs an independent security company. He's brought in to oversee the security of The Pearl, the tallest man-made building of all time. Once there, terrorists break in, set the building on fire and enact their contrived evil plot. Sawyer is the man on the ground and the man inside. He's there to single-handedly take down each of these bad dudes one at a time and save his family trapped inside. The movie has a myriad of plotholes. The movie has some pretty corny dialogue. And the movie may not be the most original thing you'll ever see - but damn, if it's not fun. Johnson has enough charisma and is a big enough of a star to be able to keep the wheels turning in the film. The stakes are always high and while, in the back of your mind, you know he's going to succeed, writer/director Rawson Thurber injects enough conflict that it will legitimately keep you on the edge of your seat. Especially if you are afraid of heights. The scenes outside the building and up on the crane feel almost VR in nature and had me gripping the seat rests with the full force of my cringed fingers. The angles, the wind, the noise... all of it had my heart in my throat.
What's cool about Skyscraper is it's got that modernized remake feel to it. The technology is smarter. The action is bigger. The building is... taller. And it's fun to see what these movies Skyscraper is paying homage to would look like if they'd been made today. And while none of the original movies are without their own faults (except Die Hard... Die Hard is perfect), Skyscraper isn't perfect either. It's got some serious flaws. The two biggest ones include no formidable bad guy and no one for The Rock to talk to. What makes Die Hard or Air Force One or Under Siege or any movies with that formula good is you've got a big movie star facing an equally big foe. John McClane isn't as cool without going toe-to-toe with equally cool Hans Gruber. In Skyscraper the villains don't have that magnetism that DJ brings and therefore don't seem like much of a threat. I never once though that if they went one-on-one with The Rock that he would lose - and he's only got one leg! The other biggest problem is that The Rock spends a lot of the movie alone. This is a mistake because his on screen charisma is wasted without someone to spar lines with. And the other reason is that he is now forced to speak his plan out loud-- to no one. And it's jarring. There's a reason Sgt. Powell is such an important character in Die Hard. It gives McClane someone to talk to which organically allows him to explain his plans, as well as give more life to his character. The Rock can do a lot, but when he's alone and explaining to
My final complaint with the movie is a small one, but it bugged me nonetheless. Most of the characters throughout the film are going through an inferno of fire and debris, and no one sweats. There are a couple of times you'll get a shot of The Rock with some soot and some moisture on his forehead, but it's hardly what I'd label sweat. Occasionally, it took me out of the film. Other than that, I had a really good time. Writer/director Thurber has got a good thing going with The Rock and seems to be making movies that not only audiences will enjoy, but movies that he WANTS to be making. If I was a writer/director, I'd be wanting to make movies like the ones he makes. He began with Dodgeball, following it up with We're The Millers, began working with The Rock in Central Intelligence and now Skyscraper. He's also just inked another deal for a high concept, big budget action thriller with The Rock for next year as well. The guy makes entertaining and fun movies. And with a background in comedy, he's able to breathe some extra brevity into these movies that could get stuck too dark and too serious for its own good. He also gives The Rock a lot more fun stuff to do. Skyscraper doesn't take itself too seriously and it knows what it's trying to do. There are subtle and not-too-subtle nods to the movies it's honoring and it's a good reason to head to the theater. I do wish Hollywood would make more movies like this because with the saturation of Summer fare we've learned to live with over the past decade or so, even a flawed movie like Skyscraper feels like a breath of fresh air.
C+
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