"Skyscraper": Predictable, Unoriginal, and Satisfying

The trailer for this film is a very honest representation of this movie as a whole.  If you watch the trailer for this movie, you can probably tell if you would enjoy watching this film or not.


"Skyscraper" is yet another attempt for Hollywood to pander to Chinese audiences because they have the largest market.  The film stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who plays the role of a man who lost his leg in an accident and loves his family.  "The Rock" needs to save his wife and kids from getting burned alive in the largest skyscraper in the world, which is in China. 


I wasn't originally planning to see this film, but I was able to go for free because there was a promotion at my local theater.  While I don't regret going to see "Skyscraper", there is very little that distinguishes it from any other run-of-the-mill action blockbuster.


This is a disaster movie.  If I wanted to, I could nitpick this film all day.  There are logical inconsistencies in quite a few places, but that's a given with a film like this.  There would be a lot more deaths if this occurred in real life, but then movie would be a lot more depressing.  Most of the dramatic moments come from unrealistic situations and predictable reveals.  The acting in this film isn't good either, especially with the kids.  However, if none of this bothers you, then "Skyscraper" is a perfectly fine action flick.


"Skyscraper" does seem to steal from a lot of action setpieces and plot points from other movies.  Everything I enjoyed seems to have come from another film that has done the concept a lot better.  There are a lot of elements from films like "Die Hard", "John Wick: Chapter 2", "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol", "The Fugitive", and I'm sure there are a lot more. 


However, the greatest strength of "Skyscraper" is its ability to constantly have lots of stuff going on.  There are a lot of twists and turns that viewers might not necessarily see coming, even if the film clearly broadcasts how the conclusion of the film will go down.  Most importantly, the film constantly felt like it was building up to something, then had a pretty satisfying conclusion; this is integral to a movie like this.


This film was so much better than I thought it was going to be.  A lot of my enjoyment came from cheesy scenes and unintentional comedy, but I would be lying if I wrote that I wasn't impressed by a little bit of the cinematography and plot elements.  It was a fun time and somewhat refreshing to see a film that has low standards yet achieves everything it is going for. 


Even though I was constantly engaged, I can neither recommend nor discourage seeing this film.  Nothing is done poorly enough to bother most audience members, but there is nothing that stands out as being spectacular either.  It is a competent action film, see it if you want to and you probably will get what you expect.