Skyscraper

Former FBI Hostage Rescue Team leader and U.S. war veteran Will Ford now assesses security for skyscrapers. He's on assignment in China when 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 must find those responsible, clear his name and somehow rescue his family, which is trapped inside the building, above the fire line.

Skyscraper is one of those typical Dwayne Johnson 'family versus work' types of film, many of these types of film with him in have gone on to become really successful which is what intrigued and enticed me into watching this film (oh, and because it was technically free!). The film was really interesting in the way it presented a new type of plot that audiences haven't really been exposed to before, this and the combination of excellent marketing should make it another successful film to add to Dwayne's collection, right? Going off of other reviews, maybe not this time... But everyone has their own opinion and here's mine.

So, as always, I'll start off with the parts to this film that I liked. And there were plenty. This film is characterised as a drama film, but instead I think it should be a thriller or action because there were plenty of moments during this film that left the audience on edge. The film started with a great scene which kicked things off amazingly, not only did it introduce us to the main character in the film and a bit about his past, but it also grabbed the audiences attention straight away and really helped to engage with the audience right from the start. The manner in which this film was able to transform from the past to the present, from location to location and character to character was also really well executed. The film kept the audience updated with all 4 perspectives from various characters which I feel was a nice touch, not only were we able to see what Will Ford (Dwayne Johnson) was doing, but the audience were also simultaneously kept up to date with the enemy, the police and Will's children too. I don't feel that this was too much either, the correct amount of time was given to each set of characters and it allowed the audience to have a feeling of superiority, in the sense that we knew everything that was going on from a wide variety of different perspectives. The transitions between characters, locations and times were also very quick and snappy too, I like the inclusion of a location and time update too, as in some films, the audience are thrown around different places, not keeping them involved. The way in which a variety of different news reports in various languages was used in the background was also a really nice effect, this added in realism to the film, it gave the audience the impression that they were actually in Hong Kong with the characters due to the camera angles constantly moving around to give the impression of human movement.

The film also used tension throughout for good reason, there were lots of parts to the film that had the audience on the edge of their seat wondering whether Will would get out of another situation and how he could possibly manage certain stunts - which were creative to say the least! The film kept this tension very well, through the use of close up camera angles and a mixture of different audio themes. It was able to constantly keep the audience interested and excited for what would happen next, which it did really well. The changes in audio themes didn't feel choppy or poorly done either, they felt professional and suited the themes and what was going on during the film well. I was really impressed by how the film introduced the massive skyscraper within the film too, by showing off everything about the building and all of the amazing things it could do, I was impressed that it wasn't over pushed or overly described; but I feel that the time dedicated to the introduction for the audience to the skyscraper was a perfect amount of time so that it didn't become boring. The film also establishes an enemy very quickly which I liked, right towards the beginning of the film there is a twist and the enemy is introduced to the audience. I felt that it was really refreshing to be introduced to this character and also to see a perspective view of them setting fire to the building too - linking to twists, there were a lot of them too. Which had a positive effect on the audience as they constantly kept the audience unprepared and curious regarding what would happen next. The twists were also unforeseen and very unpredictable which again, kept the film fresh and kept the audience constantly guessing and interested in what was going on. Speaking of the plot and twists, I really feel that the plot choice for this film is strong. Nearly as strong as the actual building! But in all seriousness, I like the idea of the film and the new approach to action films (or should I say drama) that this film offered to audiences, the plot was strong and despite there being some issues with it, overall I think that audiences in general enjoyed the film due to the good presentation of the story line. There were also plenty of action and exciting stunt scenes within this film too that I feel was effective for the audience, such as jumping from a crane into a burning building, or jumping out of a house from men with machine guns. These stunt scenes were really exciting and really made audiences feel on edge and excited to see what would happen to Will, although I don't feel that they took up much time within the film which could be seen as a positive as it implies that the creators of the film weren't attempting to 'over do' it with these types of scenes. That are crucial to many films success. The plot of the film was also executed in a fluid manner too, the films plot seemed to flow really well and references later on in the film to earlier scenes also strengthened the plot and just generally helped the film to communicate with audiences better. This was because as the typical conversations the characters were having seemed relatable to audiences - such as a broken iPhone and turning it off and on again!

The film was action packed yes, and was effective at catching the audience off guard. But my main issue with this film was from the characters in the film, not the plot. Too many stunts, scenes, reactions and general conversations between the characters just seemed to be far too unrealistic for my liking which, similarly to the film, set part of it on fire and let it burn. Scenes such as Will removing a massive piece of metal lodged in his chest and climbing the height of a skyscraper without safety gear, were just executed poorly. Even though I liked the constant issue of the burning skyscraper always in the shots (whether this was in the background or foreground), these scenes were far too unrealistic. When Will was removing the metal from his chest, all he let out was a tiny cry, even after he poured vodka on it to sterilise the wound. Similarly, when the family were reunited at the end, there was not much emotion at all and just a few smiles. These should have been key scenes for the film to evoke an emotional reaction from the audience but it just missed this completely, even when the family knew the building was on fire, they kept calm in a clearly tense situation which was professional yes, but just didn't seem relatable or realistic to audiences at all. In addition to this, I feel that the plot moved a little bit too quickly for audiences. We were moved around different scenes in the film at quite a rapid pace and it felt like many of the scenes were introduced to the audiences far too quickly for us to make sense of what was going on. Such as when Will was attacked in the train station and mugged. Scenes like this were interesting and exciting, yes, but most of the audience weren't aware of why this was happening and the relevance of these types of scenes early in the film. I was very disappointed as to why the audience only felt out about the cause of the battle towards the end of the film, even a small indication of what the enemy's aim was at the start of the film would've been nice and I feel as if this would've tidied up the film nicely.

The addition of jump scenes was a nice feature, despite how widely used this is. My problem is that this film took that and almost seemed to challenge how many tense jump scenes it could include within one film! There were so many and eventually it just became unnecessary and ridiculous, and by the end there was no interest in these types of scenes whatsoever as they had been completely overused. I think this sums up the film really, many of the action and scenes that were supposed to be thrilling, weren't. Mainly because they had been used so many times beforehand in this film, and it was a shame really because like I said, the plot seemed to be really interesting and fresh. It just wasn't executed properly.

Overall, I would rate this film a 7. For most of the film, it was really tense and exciting (even some of the early stunt scenes) and I like the addition of a constant issue throughout the film being shown too. But I strongly feel that the poor execution and unrealistic character relationships is what brought this film down. The characters weren't engaging with the audience, the scenes weren't very realistic (as a whole), and many of the stunt scenes weren't too refreshing as intended. I think the way to sum this film up would be to say 'it generally seems unrealistic, but still thrilling and exciting simultaneously' and I think that sums this film up well. It definitely used the best of both worlds which I think actually probably helped to interest other audiences, it just didn't fully work on me!

Thanks for reading my review, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did watching the film and writing this. Thanks for all of your support, have a lovely day! :)