Expecting this film to be mind-blowing is a tall order. Let’s start here: Skyscraper is a The Rock movie. I don’t care that he’s now going by his government name. This is a The Rock movie, which means three things: he will take his shirt off, there will be a bit of corny humour and he’ll be fighting (and winning)
If you like that sort of thing, then you will love this movie. It’s truly action-packed with so-so choreography for the fight scenes. Every time you think they can’t get any more textbook, then he slips and nearly plummets to his fiery death - but he somehow has the core strength of 10 Billy Blanks and manages to lift himself up with one arm.
This is only the beginning of the third paragraph and I haven’t told you what the film is about yet - and that’s because it’s pretty much the same film The Rock keeps making - just set in a different part of the world and one where he contends with a different kind of element. So here goes:
The Rock embodies Will Ford, an ex-FBI Hostage Rescue team leader who now owns a skyscraper assessment security company.
He’s in China - with his wife, Sarah (Neve Campbell), a doctor who served in Iraq but somehow knows karate moves and speaks fluent Chinese, as well as their twin kids - to assess the tallest building in the world.
The visionary behind the building, Zhao Long Ji (Chin Han), is confident that he has built heaven, but then the building goes up in flames - with Will’s family inside - there are armed men looking for something in his possession and he must find a way to save the day. Sounds like every other The Rock movie, right? Told you.
That said: once you get over the fact that they are not reinventing the wheel here, it’s easy to enjoy this movie. You’ll even get a few laughs in. That kid who has asthma will probably annoy you, but Neve Campbell isn’t too shabby.
The age restriction may be too high, as I feel that even 13-year-olds would appreciate the action, but it’s definitely not a cerebral exercise, so enjoy!