What is there to say about Skyscraper (2018)? Sure it combines the high octane thrills of Die Hard (1988) and The Towering Inferno (1974) without the wit of the former or the star studded cast of the latter. Skyscraper is a paint-by-numbers blockbuster that, in an effort to appeal to everyone, appeals to no one. Not even the cult of personality that’s grown around Dwayne Johnson could salvage Skyscraper.
A film like Skyscraper proves how anomalous a film like Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle (2017) really is. Dwayne Johnson’s first outing in the Jumanji franchise had a few genuinely funny moments courtesy of Jack Black that thoughtfully addressed ideas of gender identity. But there’s no such termite art gnawing at Skyscraper. Skyscraper counts on Johnson to be both hero and comic relief then delivers neither.
Skyscraper envisions the best of The Towering Inferno and Die Hard as steps one takes in a recipe. The problem is that the writing isn’t even up to that task, essentially casting Dwayne Johnson and Neve Campbell adrift in a smokey behemoth of a blockbuster. The thrills of a burning building possess the same agency as the stars’ chemistry: none.
Ultimately Skyscraper isn’t made for any audience other than Dwayne Johnson himself. The matinee idol is clearly building his persona as the purveyor of family entertainments where he always plays a super dad. Skycraper sells this idea and reaffirms Johnson’s own sense of self-identity. Skyscraper is a film by Johnson for Johnson.
