Skyscraper

A disappointing actioner, Skyscraper follows security specialist Will Sawyer (Dwayne Johnson) as he’s forced to charge into a burning building to save his wife (Neve Campbell’s Sarah) and two children (McKenna Roberts’ Georgia and Noah Cottrell’s Henry) from certain doom – with Will’s efforts complicated by a crew of criminals, led by Roland Møller’s Kores Botha, bent on massive destruction. Filmmaker Rawson Marshall Thurber has infused Skyscraper with a super-slick feel that is, at the outset, somewhat difficult to resist, with the brisk pace and agreeable setup, coupled with a typically commanding and charismatic star turn by Johnson, ensuring that the movie certainly holds plenty of promise in its early stages. It’s only as Thurber begins emphasizing elements of a decidedly tedious nature that one’s interest begins to wane, as the writer/director has populated Skyscraper with a series of supporting characters that couldn’t possibly be less interesting – with this especially true of the film’s bland, one-dimensional villain (and good luck trying to figure out what his motives are and what he’s actually after). And while Thurber has admittedly peppered the proceedings with a very small handful of compelling, exhilarating sequences (eg Sarah and Henry attempt to cross an incredibly precarious chasm), Skyscraper is dominated by action sequences that are drained of their excitement by incoherent visuals and an overuse of computer-generated special effects – with, in terms of the latter, the videogame-like atmosphere ensuring that the entire climactic stretch is unable to pack the visceral punch Thurber has surely intended. The end result is a woefully ineffective Die Hard homage that’s rarely, if ever, as engaging as Johnson’s sturdy turn, which is a shame, certainly, given the massive potential afforded by the seemingly foolproof premise.

** out of ****