Video Review: “Skyscraper”

I missed “Skyscraper” when it was released in theaters last July. 

Why did I miss it?

Because I listened to all the morons who said it sucked. 

I gotta tell ya, I had a great time watching the 4K UHD Blu-ray edition of “Skyscraper.”

Was it high art? No. 

Was it a ripoff of “Die Hard”? Yes. 

The Dwayne Johnson action movie about former FBI Hostage Rescue specialist Will Sawyer — an ex-Marine who has to save his family from the world’s tallest skyscraper (a fictional 225-story structure called “The Pearl” in Hong Kong) — was an entertaining ride.

The film is a throwback to action movies of the late 1980s and early 1990s. 

I loved “Die Hard” (which some have called the “Citizen Kane” of action films) and ripoffs like “Cliffhanger,” “Speed,” and “Under Siege” (“Under Siege 2: Dark Territory” is a particular favorite of mine). 

Why do I like those movies?

The stories feature simple plots and simple protagonists, fighting simple villains for simple reasons. 

The movies of that era had heroes who felt “real” — not the endless supply of caped crusaders with special powers and body armor made of some secret element that doesn’t even exist. 

Director Rawson Marshall Thurber mentions in the Blu-ray’s commentary track that he revisited the movies of Sylvester Stallone around the time he penned “Skyscraper.”

Thurber was born in 1975 (a few years after I was born). His love for the macho action movies that kids of our generation grew up on is evident when you watch “Skyscraper.” 

I also tend to enjoy Dwayne Johnson movies. 

Will Sawyer (Johnson’s character in the movie) is injured in a explosion in the movie’s prologue sequence. As a result, his left leg has been amputated when we see him several years later reviewing the security procedures and protocols in “The Pearl.” 

In the commentary track, Thurber mentions the prologue of “Skyscraper” was inspired by the prologue of 1993’s “Cliffhanger” — where mountain ranger Gabe Walker (Stallone) drops his buddy’s girlfriend (causing her to fall to her death) during a rescue attempt in the Rocky Mountains. 

Thurber liked the idea of tough, brawny heroes facing adversity at the beginning of a movie like “Cliffhanger,” and thought it would add an interesting element to “Skyscraper.” 

Sawyer is in Hong Kong with his wife Sarah (played by “Party of Five’s” Neve Campbell) and kids, Georgia and Henry (McKenna Roberts and Noah Cottrell). 

He is given an iPad that gives him access to the building. The iPad is stolen offsite. 

There are bad guys trying to infiltrate the skyscraper. They start a fire on the 96th floor. Did I mention they’re bad? Because that’s pretty much all you need to know about them. 

Will Sawyer’s family is trapped in the building due to the fire. As a result, he must rescue them. 

Through sheer will (no pun intended), and with the aid of a couple rolls of duct tape, Sawyer sets out to rescue his family...and kick the crap out of the villains. 

“If you can’t fix it with duct tape, then you ain’t using enough duct tape,” says Sawyer at one point during the movie’s explosions, gun play, and fisticuffs. 

I’ll be the first to say that “Skyscraper” is by no means a “great” movie. It’s silly and ridiculous. I’m just getting fatigued on comic book heroes saving the universe every three months at the local multiplex. 

It’s nice to see an “old fashioned” action movie that hearkens back to the movies I loved in my teens and twenties. 

It is in that spirit I enjoyed “Skyscraper.”

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