Skyscraper Review

Veteran director Rawson Marshall Thunder (Easy A, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story) takes the helm of Skyscraper. Skyscraper is another action movie featuring the fan favourite Dwayne Johnson. In this film Johnson plays Will Sawyer, a hardened war vet and retired FBI member. After a horrible accident that causes Will to lose his leg, he decides to hang up the badge and opens up his own security firm.

Just when Will thinks he scored his dream job by landing the contract for The Pearl, the largest and most high-tech Skyscraper on the planet. He quickly finds out, all isn’t what it appears to be. Unforeseen circumstances force Will to run head first into the now burning skyscraper to save his family. Can Will save his family and get out alive before the skyscraper burns to the ground?

Skyscraper is just like any other action movie, the hero (Dwayne Johnson) faces unrealistic odds and still manages to achieve the set task. However, it was nice to see that Johnson got beat up a little more than usual and shows his struggles fighting throughout the tower. Also, it was nice to see that our hero has a prosthetic leg and they do a really good job showing in different parts of the film more uses than just walking like for example, using it to prop open a door. I do like how it showcases that even when something bad happens, you should still never give up. It was nice to see Hollywood trying to branch out and touch on people with prosthetic limbs showing that they can still be the hero of the story.

Skyscraper has strong family roots and is very focused on that aspect throughout. The film does an excellent job showcasing the family’s love each other. Showing a father’s love is stronger than even only having one leg. I honestly don’t know what I would do if I was in this situation myself.

To my surprise, it was nice to see Neve Campbell who plays Will’s wife Sarah, finally trying to widen her horizon to different movies, and not just living in the Scream spotlight. The whole on screen chemistry between Johnson and Campbell was great. They interacted well with each other and with their children. This doesn’t really come as a shock considering the experience that the two of them have alone.

The Conclusion

Skyscraper is an over the top action flick starring Dwayne Johnson like most of his films. However, in this film, our hero sports a prosthetic leg which is nice to see them trying to broaden their target audience, not that it’s needed having a fan favourite like Johnson.

I did enjoy watching the film like many of Thunders’ other films. If you like typical action movies and Dwayne Johnson you’ll like the movie. But, don’t be expecting something amazing as Skyscraper is just ok.

Skyscraper Review at Theater with Standard Viewing
Screening Provided by NBC Universal

Rating Overall: 5.5