Skyscraper

Skyscraper (2018)

51% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 144 reviews)

Runtime: 102 minutes

Directed by: Rawson Marshall Thurber

Starring: The Rock, Neve Campbell, Chin Han, Roland Moller, Byron Mann

From: Universal/Legendary

Yes, the movie is exactly what you'd expect it to be judging from the trailers:

Before I discuss this motion picture, let me discuss MoviePass first; I was never a member, although it was not for a lack of trying. For reasons still unknown to me, the attempts last fall to sign up went awry... I did everything I was supposed to but that company is so low-rent and amateur, even attempting to register was a confusing process and long story short, the attempts to sign up were unsuccessful. In hindsight, I am glad that happened as MoviePass has been even more of a disaster than expected for an entity whose business model never made much sense to me and at this point-with their parent company having a share of stock only worth 17 cents-they almost sound like a pyramid scheme as they apparently need a lot of new cash to stay afloat. Any day now I expect to hear they're folding.

Anyhow, I recently signed up for AMC Stubs A-List and while it is 20 bucks a month, it will still be a deal for me. Besides it being a new aspect of a program that AMC Theatres has had for a few years now, there are several AMC locations not that far from me and I can get a ticket for any film as long as it isn't something like a Fathom Event or another similar screening that only has a showing or two. Yes, that means IMAX and Dolby Cinema screenings; as those are almost 20 bucks per ticket, that is a big reason why I signed up. This means I'll be at the cinema a little more often and I'll save some cash.

But let me actually talk about Skyscraper. I saw this at a Dolby Cinema; naturally it was great both visually and aurally. The movie itself was not as good as either its obvious inspirations (Die Hard and The Towering Inferno) yet because I presumed it would be a fun popcorn film from its “show too much” trailers-and it was and the trailers gave away too many big moments-I can't get mad at this dopey film. If you scrutinized the plot then you realize this is a load of nonsense, yet my intelligence was never insulted and the feeling of being smothered an insufferable stench did not occur, so that made me a lot better than Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

Dwayne Johnson was as charming as always and you believed he would do all those crazy things; him as an amputee was only a factor on a few occasions, although it was still nice and I'll presume those that are amputees themselves will enjoy a hero who can overcome the odds despite having a prosthetic leg. It was certainly nice seeing Neve Campbell on the big screen again as it's been a REAL long time for me. The kid actors were thankfully fine. The titular skyscraper did look pretty nice and had the type of design you'd expect someone to implement in an actual supertall skyscraper in order to be “hip.” It is 3500 feet tall (a little over a kilometer) and was pretty fancy, but you've probably seen the trailers yourself.

This is the type of motion picture where you spot someone for the first time and you think “Oh, that's actually a bad guy”... and you'd probably be right. Skyscraper isn't high art... at least I found it to be entertaining. Concerning the action, when it wasn't hand to hand battles that were shot too incoherently, those moments were fine. The villains weren't exactly memorable, although the focus on family was nice and I know that'll be appealing to the average moviegoer, meaning people who aren't hardcore fans like us. As long as your expectations are in check, you may find this to be fine, like I did.

Incidentally, Die Hard came out on July 15, 1988. If Skyscraper's release date was chosen for this weekend because of that reason... well-played, Universal and Legendary, well-played.