There are several classes of people who I think will appreciate this movie more than others, and it's a real shame this movie was not advertised specifically to those people. It's true that the plot is pretty basic. It's true that most of the movie runs on the Rule of Cool. It's true that the villains aren't particularly compelling - as much as this movie is compared to Die Hard, the lead villain is no Hans Gruber, and he has minimal personal involvement with the hero.
So, where does Skyscraper shine?
For one thing, it shines in its portrayal as a disabled veteran as an action hero. Dwayne Johnson's character has lost his left leg below the knee, and has a prosthetic which features prominently in the events of the movie. He's shown to have some difficulties, inconveniences, and even chronic pain from the prosthetic. He's also shown to have adapted to it, and uses it in creative ways to accomplish his goals and keep himself safe as he moves through the building. I honestly don't recall the last time I saw a physically disabled character given the role of Action Movie Hero - opinion among the masses seems to be that such people are incapable of pulling the stunts we associate with that role. It was really cool to see Skyscraper's creative team throw that idea out the window.
Neve Campbell costars as Johnson's character's wife, and these two are #marriagegoals. Not only is she every bit as rough and tough as he is, the scenes in which they work together highlight that their marriage is one of profound trust between equals. She is given many opportunities to show her skills, from fluency in Mandarin to combat training, and frankly, I think the character comes out on top when compared to Holly McClane simply because she does more.
If you go into this movie with a good sense of humor, expecting that the creative team did a number of things just because somebody thought it would be awesome, then you won't be disappointed. You might even be impressed. "Heaven" is a good example of this - there is literally no reason to have a combination hall-of-mirrors/holosuite at the top of the skyscraper, and the minute you see it in the film's beginning, you think, "they put that in there JUST to stage a fight in it", and you'd be right. As soon as you find out the building is powered by a set of giant turbines, you 100% know The Rock is going to have to jump into those turbines. It's just the rules of action movies.
Skyscraper follows the rules, and in that sense it's very formulaic. But it also does some wonderfully unexpected things, showing a higher degree of thoughtfulness in concept of the main characters and their relationship.
Because Skyscraper follows the rules closely, most of the movie works exactly as it's supposed to, and there aren't too many awkward spots or dead-ends. The only one is the presence of the Hong Kong police, and the fact that they believe, through most of the movie, that Dwayne Johnson is the bad guy. There really is no purpose to that except to add some pressure during the well-advertised crane scene, and possibly to mimic Die Hard more closely. In the end, when the Lt. tells Dwayne's character "It's good to finally meet you", you can tell it was supposed to be a call-back to the relationship between John and Al in Die Hard. The problem is, no such relationship was established, so the moment falls really flat. I understand the police should absolutely be present for the events of the movie - you can't light a skyscraper on fire without a police response. But their participation in the plot was flaccid at best.
So, where does Skyscraper shine?
For one thing, it shines in its portrayal as a disabled veteran as an action hero. Dwayne Johnson's character has lost his left leg below the knee, and has a prosthetic which features prominently in the events of the movie. He's shown to have some difficulties, inconveniences, and even chronic pain from the prosthetic. He's also shown to have adapted to it, and uses it in creative ways to accomplish his goals and keep himself safe as he moves through the building. I honestly don't recall the last time I saw a physically disabled character given the role of Action Movie Hero - opinion among the masses seems to be that such people are incapable of pulling the stunts we associate with that role. It was really cool to see Skyscraper's creative team throw that idea out the window.
Neve Campbell costars as Johnson's character's wife, and these two are #marriagegoals. Not only is she every bit as rough and tough as he is, the scenes in which they work together highlight that their marriage is one of profound trust between equals. She is given many opportunities to show her skills, from fluency in Mandarin to combat training, and frankly, I think the character comes out on top when compared to Holly McClane simply because she does more.
If you go into this movie with a good sense of humor, expecting that the creative team did a number of things just because somebody thought it would be awesome, then you won't be disappointed. You might even be impressed. "Heaven" is a good example of this - there is literally no reason to have a combination hall-of-mirrors/holosuite at the top of the skyscraper, and the minute you see it in the film's beginning, you think, "they put that in there JUST to stage a fight in it", and you'd be right. As soon as you find out the building is powered by a set of giant turbines, you 100% know The Rock is going to have to jump into those turbines. It's just the rules of action movies.
Skyscraper follows the rules, and in that sense it's very formulaic. But it also does some wonderfully unexpected things, showing a higher degree of thoughtfulness in concept of the main characters and their relationship.
Because Skyscraper follows the rules closely, most of the movie works exactly as it's supposed to, and there aren't too many awkward spots or dead-ends. The only one is the presence of the Hong Kong police, and the fact that they believe, through most of the movie, that Dwayne Johnson is the bad guy. There really is no purpose to that except to add some pressure during the well-advertised crane scene, and possibly to mimic Die Hard more closely. In the end, when the Lt. tells Dwayne's character "It's good to finally meet you", you can tell it was supposed to be a call-back to the relationship between John and Al in Die Hard. The problem is, no such relationship was established, so the moment falls really flat. I understand the police should absolutely be present for the events of the movie - you can't light a skyscraper on fire without a police response. But their participation in the plot was flaccid at best.