David Pierdomenico
Dwayne Johnson seems to be going out of his way to prove that he’s the king of generic action films. Even in their heyday, neither Arnold Schwarzenegger nor Sylvester Stallone seemed to release two to three films per year. And Skyscraper is just the next addition to Johnson’s reign. While it does have some interesting visuals and a few good fight scenes, its overall tone and plot are as recycled as Captain Planet’s living room.
Sound Familiar?
The film opens with a tense situation, which serves to introduce the main character. What follows is a tragedy which leaves the protagonist slightly traumatized. Fast forward several years and things seem to be going well. The day begins as normal, when someone (usually a friend) has secretly gotten in league with villains and some sort of disaster/battle ensues where the main character’s family become prisoners or hostages of the villains. Of course the films being referenced are Hostage, Olympus Has Fallen, In the Line of Fire, 16 Blocks, Inside Man, White House Down, and basically every other film Bruce Willis has been in. The point is Skyscraper follows in a long line of imitations that followed the exact same formula. However it’s quite clear that it wasn’t trying to be new or unique, so in a way it’s uncertain whether this makes the situation better or worse.
What It Does Well
While Skycraper does rely on CGI heavily, it’s at least used only when necessary and doesn’t look painfully fake like in Baywatch, one of Johnson’s other starring roles from 2017. In addition, the skyscraper itself, known as “The Pearl” has some pretty interesting rooms, particularly a spherical shaped one which can make it look one is hovering in the air above Hong Kong. And it must be acknowledged, that despite the overwhelming amount of clichés in the film, it’s difficult not to like Dwayne Johnson. The fact that his character is an amputee gives him a vulnerability not usually seen and makes him more relatable. He also has an immense charm to him that wins audiences over. Which most likely explains why he can do mediocre films but still have people enjoy them. They’re watching it for him rather than for some thought provoking plot.
In another interesting subversion, Johnson’s onscreen wife, played by Neve Campbell, proves to be much more than the simple hostage or damsel in distress, as is so often the case for female leads. Her character is a former Navy surgeon, and when her children are threatened, she springs into action, wielding a pair of scissors with surgical (no pun intended) precision. She also plays a semi active role in helping to counter the measures of the villains and ultimately apprehending them. As much as this film does rip off Die Hard, Holly McClane was never as daring or active in the overall plot as this character was. So in a way, it feels like the modern update to that. Perhaps it would be more progressive had she shared equal screen time with Dwayne Johnson, but some progress is better than none.
Placating Foreign Markets
Another component that’s difficult to overlook is the fact that Skyscraper is both set in Hong Kong, and features many Chinese characters in prominent roles, as well as a great deal of Cantonese being spoken on screen. It’s no secret that China is a huge consumer of American films, and lately many of them have been intentionally aiming to please that booming market. Transformers: Age of Extinction had its entire third act take place in China, while The Martian had the Chinese space program help save Matt Damon stranded on Mars.
It’s interesting to see how films are being crafted to be specifically appealing to a different country and culture. On the one hand, it allows for the films to feel multicultural. But it can also backfire as Marvel found out with Doctor Strange. Fans accused the studio of “white washing” due to the casting of an Irish woman as the Ancient One rather than a Tibetan monk, due to political tensions between China and Tibet.
Overall, Skyscraper isn’t a game changer by any means, but it’s not trying to be. If its goal was to create a generic action film that general audiences will enjoy, it succeeded. It’s not at all pretentious, or trying to be anything other than it is. This, along with Dwayne Johnson being so lovable, makes the film difficult to hate. Easy to look at with indifference, but not hatred. Sure it’s a rip off of Die Hard and every other action movie, but most fans going to see it know exactly what they’re getting anyway.
