We all feel a need to categorize the movies we see. It makes it easy to compare them to other in the (sub)genre and at the same time display our knowledge of the movie landscape. In most reviews I read about Dwayne Johnson‘s new movie Skyscraper (which is about a security analyst who has to save his family out of a burning tower taken over by some evil guys) it was compared to Die Hard and The Towering Inferno. But I don’t think you should make the comparison as those movies were quite different. The Towering Inferno was a disaster movie which happened to be about a fire in a high rise building. Die Hard was an action movie like this one, but a lot more realistic and believable. It’s better to not make the comparison and look at this movie for what it is: A summer blockbuster movie which wants to entertain its viewers by giving them a thrill ride.
Dwayne Johnson is always a great addition to a movie and the last couple of years he has been the face for movies that offer spectacle. Whether it’s him rescuing people in helicopters during earth quakes (San Andreas) or trying to save his favorite gorilla who has grown into an enormous monster (Rampage), he succeeds in making it an entertaining ride. Even if that ride is unrealistic or has massive plotholes. In that respect Skyline is no exception. His character climbs on the outside of the highest building in the world in a way which would make Ethan Hunt scared and can jump farther and is stronger than any olympic gymnast. This is pure entertainment where you simply go along for the ride, don’t think too much about it (if you do, you might wonder for example what good it would have been if the tablet was stolen initially) and probably forget all about it in just a couple of days. That’s the type of movie this and sometimes that’s fine. Not every movie is Die Hard.
[score7]