Film Review: Skyscraper

Genre: Action, Crime, Drama

Cert: 12A

Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber

Screenwriter: Rawson Marshall Thurber

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Pablo Schreiber, Noah Taylor, McKenna Roberts, Kevin Rankin, Roland Møller, Byron Mann, Matt O'Leary, Hannah Quinlivan, Beatrice King, Tzi Ma, Chin Han, Paul McGillion, Kathy Wu.   

Running time: 1h 42min

Parents advised reading before viewing the film as some scene may contain scenes unsuitable for younger viewers.

Sex & Nudity:

• Will and Sarah kiss.
• Her T-shirt reveals some cleavage.

Violence & Gore:

• Near the beginning of the film, Will explains why he doesn't carry a gun. "I kinda put my sword down" after losing his leg, he says."And I'm never gonna pick it up again."
• While he stays true to his word and doesn't grab a gun to blow away his foes-choosing instead to pummel them with a lot of muscle and anything else close at hand-that's pretty much the only way this pic hesitates when it comes to its PG-13 mayhem and destruction.
• The terrorist-like killers in the movie certainly don't curb their trigger-pulling.
• The camera doesn't hang around to examine the potentially gory aftermath of their work, but scores and scores of policemen and civilians get mowed down, hit with explosive grenades and crunched by moving vehicles.
• A villainous assassin and her goons burst into a room full of computer techs, riddling them with automatic gunfire.
• Baddies smash through police lines and cut people down with efficient glee, almost glamorizing the wanton death-dealing on hand.
• These moments feel particularly disquieting in our age of mass shootings and riotous street violence.
• The thugs also spread copious amounts of powdered magnesium in the skyscraper, a volatile chemical concoction that erupts into ferocious flames when the sprinkler system kicks in.
• That fire not only consumes most of the enormous building but also instantly ignites explosions that swirl up hungrily through ventilation and elevator shafts.
• Various victims are subsequently thrown about and seared to ash in those all-consuming flames
• Elsewhere, a helicopter spins out of control and obliterates a small crowd of men.
• We see a crazed father kill himself and his son with an explosive vest.
• There is some bloody aftermath in this case And later, we're shown scarred, formerly ravaged flesh (that has since healed) of someone who had been close to the explosion.
• A man is choked to death.
• Someone falls holding a live grenade and erupts into an explosive mush.
• A guy is Tasered.
• Someone gets shot in the chest.
• A young woman takes a boot kick to the face.
• A man is stabbed with a pair of scissors.
• People trapped in a plunging elevator aren't sure they're going to be able to arrest their fall.
• A woman is nearly choked by an SUV's seatbelt.
• Sawyer kids are both manhandled and threatened.
• As for Will Sawyer, his pummeling torture starts with a slash to his arm. And it continues in wild, escalating, video game-like sequences from there.
• He leaps from a hundred-story high crane, pulls shrapnel-like chunks of metal out of his chest, swings outside a building repeatedly, dangles high in the air by his prosthetic leg and barely dodges swirling metal blades.
• He also gets fried by roaring explosions and tossed through panes of glass.
• In the end, he looks as if he's held together only by sweat, grime, charred cloth, coagulated blood and long pieces of frayed crimson duct tape.
• "gun violence" as it says in the rating is not the only violence that takes place in this film.

Profanity: 

• This adrenaline-charged action flick doesn't have a lot of dialogue in the mix. And that actually makes its seemingly obligatory PG-13 f-word (along with five s-words, two uses of "h---" and one misuse of Jesus name) seem even more gratuitously crammed into place here.
• One use of "Fuck" (You're either going to get the doors open or I'm gonna throw your daughter off the fucking roof)

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking:

• Will takes prescription meds for pain.
• He also pours alcohol on an open wound before wrapping it in duct tape-swigging back a mouthful of booze in the process
• Henry uses an inhaler for his asthma.

Frightening/Intense Scenes: 

• Official MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for sequences of gun violence and action, and for brief strong language
  

Story: FBI Hostage Rescue Team leader and U.S. war veteran Will Sawyer now assesses security for skyscrapers. On assignment in Hong Kong, he finds the tallest, safest building in the world suddenly ablaze, and he's been framed for it. A wanted man on the run Will find those responsible, clear his name and somehow rescue his family who is trapped inside the building...above the fire line

Likes: First off I think this film is being overly criticised by people just because it has the element that has been done before it other films, yet fail to realise that a lot of film copy from other films have been since the movie industry started. 

Yes, Skyscraper is a cross between towering inferno and die hard in a way, but this isn't about stealing money, the whole plot is around something the building owner has that will incriminate them, so a band of hired mercenary are sent to retrieve it, which result in chaos.

This film does have a few moments where it gets a little unrealistic but this is the movies, anything can happen it not real life, the action screen are pretty well down, the plot is simple and easy to follow, this is all this is a popcorn film. If you go into this film think it a serious film you walk out disappointed.

 The special effects are pretty well done especially with the fire effect which adds the tension to the movie, Dwayne Johnson done a pretty well-done performance as a family man trying to rescue his family like any real man would no matter the danger, they would fight or die to rescue them.

This comes off brilliant in the film, which makes Dwanye performance good, Neve Campbell was a good choice she has great chemistry on screen with Dwanye, playing the wife who has some pretty badass moments in the film.

The children throughout the film had great performances as well, which add that family unit to the film which I don't think people without family would understand this concept because they don't know what its like to have children of their own.

It a was this film was homage to the 80s style movies, growing up from 77, this film was great entertainment, intense in places, all round good film despite what others think, but everyone entitled to their own opinion.

Me personly this film is great, but depending on your taste in films this will be a hit or miss for you, as I can see this film might not appeal to everyone, as it getting mixed reviews.


Dislikes: There are some moments in the film where the green screen effect looks a little fake but cant be help for the moment it's trying to portray

Overall: Good action, great homage to the 80s, Good acting and performances, simple plot.

Rating: 5 out of 5 for entertainment / 8.5 out of 10 for 80s homage.