Skip to main content

Skyscraper (2018), PG-13, ★★★


I would not want to title Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as the Schwarzenegger of this era because it sort of devalues his personality and brand. No, he is Dwayne Johnson who is a humbling and charismatic guy that is driven to perform his best and to give his best product on-screen. The best thing about his work is that he is consistent on the basis of entertainment. Yes, Baywatch was absolute garbage and Rampage did not quite work for me. But, everything else has been solid. Here, we have another Die Hard rip-off but not in a historical building but it in technologically advanced skyscraper that is taller than the Nakatomi Tower. Yes, there are cliches and moments of dialogue that will make you roll your eyes, but we have had not many fun summer action movies in quite a while and this is a summer action movie that is not quite a blaze of glory but it is a fun popcorn flick.

Former Marine/FBI agent Will Sawyer (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) is an amputee from a failed hostage situation ten years ago. He works for security in Hong Kong and is married to Sarah (Neve Campbell), a surgeon she met when Will was injured ten years ago. They have twins, Henry (Noah Cottrell) and Georgia (McKenna Roberts). Will has to go to a meeting with architect of The Pearl skyscraper, Zhao Jing Li (Chin Han) and he also meets his friend, Ben (Pablo Schreiber), who was there during the hostage situation and suffered burns on his neck. Will and Ben meet with Mr. Zhao's business partner, Mr Piece (Noah Taylor) and they all take a tour of the Pearl.

While in the Pearl, some criminals begin to break in. Sarah and the kids return to their place since Henry got sick from school and Sarah notices two criminals disguised as staff members and becomes suspicious. The criminals argue that they are not supposed to be there. They spread powder across the floor that is ignited by water. Their leader, Kores Botha (Rolland Moller), uses a flare to trigger the sprinklers, causing the powder to start a fire. It becomes chaos as Will and Ben return to the Pearl and Ben gains the upper hand by pointing at him at gunpoint but Will overtakes him as Ben is dying from being accidentally shot saying that criminals want a tablet and his family is not supposed at top of the skyscraper, which he sees burning as he goes in there to rescue them from the criminals.



This is stupid fun. You have to throw your logic out the window to have a good time as Johnson's character rescues his family from the criminals. There are some mind-blowing and scary visual effects that make the peril even more tense as characters have to walk on a beam from one side to another as flames are engulfing the metal below. If you have a fear of heights, I would not recommend you to go see this movie. But the scale is quite epic in such a great skyscraper. It mixes in material from Die Hard and The Towering Inferno and I would throw in a bit of Backdraft. What the movie does well is that it never gets you off the hook and never gets you bored as it just cuts straight to the chase with such adrenaline and I think I enjoyed this movie more than his other action-fare or disaster-fare of recent years. It may be his best film of this genre in a while.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has given another driven performance which elevates the movie into watchable status that you cannot take your eyes off the screen. But, again, there are a few absurd moments like him jumping off a crane into a building, he makes the stunts believable. Also, what was more impressive was Neve Campbell's performance as she has more to do here than wives trapped in a hostage situation from other movies. She is a surgeon who delivers by kicking ass and is managing to get out of a situation. Also, even though they are familiar from other movies, the villains are quite solid here with a corny reason why they are in the building.

Director Rawshon Marshall Thurber, who worked with him on Central Intelligence and has directed Dodgeball and We're The Millers, collaborates with Johnson quite well and throws everything against the wall with suspense, great action, corny logic and a silly plot as the more serious the plot goes, the more silly it gets. But, I did not care because this is pure summer entertainment that makes you grin with guilt and being honest into saying that you had a good time. We need more of these fun and silly throwback 80s and 90s movies to make a summer movie season enjoyable after some dark movies and what I can say, it is a throwback that is purely entertaining.

***



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2015 Documentaries

I have only seen 6 documentaries this year which also includes Amy and I Am Chris Farley . But, I have to be honest, this has not been a particularly strong year for documentaries except for onethat got me emotionally and mentally as what I examine for when they uncover the truth or some facts from the people involved in these documentaries. But, here are the four I have seen this year: Listen To Me Marlon, Unrated, 4 stars This is the most insightful documentary of the year as we only hear Marlon Brando narrating his life and experiences what he has gone through regarding his family, his private life and his film experiences regarding The Godfather , Apocalypse Now , Last Tango in Paris , etc. It is like Marlon Brando came out of his grave to give us another profoundly moving movie only we hear his voice and scenery and nothing else. The Look of Silence, R, 3.5 stars Joshua Oppenheimer's follow-up documentary is a light-hearted but still-disturbing film regarding a ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Daddy's Home 2 (2017), PG-13, ★1/2

The first Daddy's Home was surprisingly a financial success as I thought it was not as bad as many people thought. I thought it was a solid cable watch because it had enough laughs for that sort of mixed recommendation. I was not craving for a sequel for this movie because again, comedy sequels have a very bad record, however, the only difference is that it is not too late since the first movie came out a few years ago. But, this sequel is a reminder as to why we do not need a sequel to a hit comedy because this is a pretty much forgettable comedy, especially a holiday comedy...which I hade a guilty pleasure for. This did not work for me. Brad and Dusty (Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg) have become friends after the events of the first film and they set up a co-dad system where their two children, Megan and Dylan, spending time at each father's home. Dusty has re-married to writer Karen (Victoria's Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio) and he is step-dad to Adrianna, Karen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), R, 4 stars

The stockbrokers worshipping Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) like a god. Wall Street. The clients, the adrenaline, the stocks, the money, the power, and the decadence. The former three pertains to the man's job, but the latter three pertains what any stockbroker wants in order to have the freedom to do whatever they want with the client's money. As Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey) would say, "The name of the game is: move the money from your client's pocket into your pocket." We basically spend three hours seeing all of these Wall-Street scumbags steal the clients' money into their own pockets and spend it on booze, drugs, women, and other insane things in more insane activities. I have witnessed here is a great movie that I would not watch repetitively. The movie starts with Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) blowing cocaine onto a hooker's butt and he and his brokers throwing a little person onto a board with a dollar sign in the center. It'...
Post a Comment
Read more