Actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Director Rawson Marshall Thurber reunite for their latest action-packed thriller Skyscraper, released today (12 July) in Australia. The star-studded cast also featuring Neve Campbell, Chin Han, Roland Møller and Noah Taylor, and is projected to gross $32 to 40 million from its opening weekend.
Skyscraper follows a former FBI agent and war veteran, Will Sawyer (Dwayne Johnson) who now heads security of the tallest and most technologically-advanced building in the world, The Pearl. The revolutionary 240-storey building situated in Hong Kong houses affluent billionaire and architectural visionary, Zhao Min Zhi (Chin Han) and unknowingly, his antagonist. Sawyer’s life is suddenly found in disarray when the “impenetrable and safest building in the world” (or so his boss insists) is set ablaze and taken over by terrorists. Not to mention his wife Sarah Sawyer (Neve Campbell) and their twins are trapped in the burning high-rise, 98 storeys above ground. To make things more complicated, Sawyer, Head of Security and the only man with access to a tablet that controls the entire building’s security, is framed leading the attack.
Visually, Skyscraper is impressive in its realism. Utilising the one-shot camerawork, action scenes hold intense character and viewers can find themselves up close with the hero, in heart-racing moments, over and over again. Expect to grip the edge of your seats as The Rock (literally) hangs on for dear life. Expect bravado as the brawny, family man swings and jumps into the fire-raging building via a 100-storey crane and risks it all to save his family. Expect fantasy, and mindless imagination.
If Thurber’s intention was to create another teeth-gritting, heartwarming, excessively-Hollywood blockbuster, then Skyscraper is a definite must-watch hit – and what better actor to win over viewers than with a larger-than-life Dwayne Johnson performance?
I guess you could say, Skyscraper has been built on solid Rock.
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