Skyscraper

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Will Sawyer (played by Dwayne Johnson) is a former FBI agent who now runs his own security agency. Renowned businessman Zhao Long Ji (played by Chin Han) hires Sawyer to overlook the security of a skyscraper, which will be the tallest building in the world. A group of terrorists led by Kores Botha (played by Roland Moller) infiltrate the building and threaten Sawyer's family, which forces Sawyer into action. I had fun with this movie. It's not particularly original, and is filled to the brim with action movie cliches. Story-wise, this is just another Die Hard knock-off. Some of the beats in this movie are fairly predictable. There are two characters in the movie that I knew were going to be villains as soon as I saw them. Some of the foreshadowing is fairly obvious too, without giving anything away. Outside of Sawyer himself, the character development is pretty thin. His family is kind of just there for him to save (even if their performances actually work for me). One of the things I love about this is movie is that Sawyer himself is disabled. He was injured while trying to defuse a hostage situation (in an admittedly dark scene that didn't feel like it entirely fit). They never really bring any forced attention to it, and it doesn't feel like a cheap crux to make him weaker. If anything, there are moments where his apparent disadvantage actually saves his life The direction is solid, and there are some legitimate moments of tension, even if you do know what the outcome is going to be. Dwayne Johnson and Neve Campbell have good chemistry and make a believable husband and wife. Skyscraper isn't a movie you need to rush out and see, but would make a pretty decent rental, especially if you want to watch a fun movie and kill an hour and a half.

6 / 10