Top Stories

Skyscraper

(2 popcorn boxes)

  Well blah. I had high hopes for Skyscraper. Hahahaha. “High” hopes… that is funnier than the entire movie.

  Will Sawyer (Dwayne Johnson) is an FBI agent on a hostage rescue that goes bad. Fast forward 10 years and Will Sawyer is a retired FBI agent who works as a security consultant and has a wife, Sarah (Neve Campbell) and two children.

  The Sawyer family is in Hong Kong as Will inspects the security of “The Pearl” – a super modern and ridiculously tall skyscraper. Super rich owner Zhao Ling Ji (Chin Han) claims this is the most secure and safest building in the world. Pfft. That’s what they said about the Titanic.

  Suffice to say that fire breaks out, bad guys threaten the Sawyer clan, Will is framed for the security breach and a rescue needs to be undertaken. While that may sound slightly like Die Hard it is in NO WAY LIKE DIE HARD. I wish. Nakatomi Tower, Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman would be welcome additions. Of course, that would make any movie better, so that point is moot.

  The plot is ridiculous. Dwayne Johnson as FBI agent okay, but a security specialist and computer geek? I would definitely have more problems with my computer if he worked at Air Advantage. Just saying.

  The special effects and CGI were okay, but the outlandish story made it hard to care about how real the fire looked. The Pearl skyscraper has an actual giant sphere on top and early in the movie Zhao shows Will how the cool optics in The Pearl work… seems extraneous at the time, but you know it’s going to mean something eventually.

  Two boxes out of five for Skyscraper. The husband and I were excited to head to the theatre and escape the 90-degree heat and oppressive humidity, only to be confronted with big screen size fire, smoke and heat. We choose poorly. An air-conditioned theatre is the only reason to go see Skyscraper. As soon as Zhao met Will for the first time and handed him a tablet with all the security codes and the ability to control The Pearl I knew this plot was going downhill fast. I recommend you watch Die Hard again instead. Classic Christmas movie – good stuff.

  Check this week’s issue of the Frankenmuth News for a complete listing of shows and times.

MOVIE TRIVIA

  Neve Campbell has come a long way since the television show Party of Five. I really liked her in these classic slasher films of the 90s and early 2000s.

LAST WEEK’S MOVIE TRIVIA

    Am I the only one old enough to remember Michael Douglas as the hot young stud in this highly-respected TV drama circa 1972-76? The Streets of San Francisco (starring Karl Malden).