Skyscraper (Dwayne Johnson)

Okay, I love Dwayne Johnson (starring as Will Sawyer in this movie as main character) so I assumed this movie would be an action packed movie that would excite me. I was only half right. At the beginning of this movie, we are introduced to a beautiful story about a man who is a former  vet/FBI agent who unfortunately lost part of his leg in a bombing incident. Flashbacks of him on the table looking into the eyes of a medical staff member who he later marries. In present time, Will is heading into a big meeting where he is accessing a one-of a kind building, the largest skyscraper in China. The owner is a mysterious man who is very rich and powerful. 

One of the main problems I saw right away with the premise of the movie was that in the first fifteen minutes, if you are a really sharp movie goer, you will have figured out that his friend Ben, who introduced him to the owner of the skyscraper is in on a very sketchy inside job that frames him immediately when the building goes up in flames. 

When the building begins to get on fire, Sarah with Will's children are seperated. Apparently they weren't supposed to come back to the building because (conveniently) they were given tickets to the zoo but had to leave early because one of the kids got sick. Of course, Ben gave them tickets ensuring that they were supposed to be gone out of the building at the time of the 'take over by one of the Chinese gangs' 

On his way home, Will and Ben are traveling through trains and Will's bag is taken. I assume the hired thug was supposed to take the coveted tablet that contained the security codes for the entire building. How convenient! Unfortunately for the thug, Will swapped out the tablet from his bag to inside of his jacket. That made no sense to me. 

While Sarah and the kids are trapped in the burning building, Will gets the surprise of his life when he finds out that Ben set him up and wanted the tablet that contained the codes. The reason why Ben did this was so thin and stupid. He stated that he was jealous that Will got the wife, the kids, the prestigious career (and accolades) -- and that he was in pain and wanted something of value too. I thought maybe if they wanted to get into that reason, to give us a backstory on Ben who all we were introduced to a security guard dude, that's it. We don't know anything besides the fact that him and Will served together. 

Will and Ben get into a fight, and you can guess the rest. Will rushes back to the building to try to save his family. He is in communication via phone and eventually they will meet up but not without drama, fighting, and action. 

The rest of the story telling lead the audience to the mysterious owner and why he was targeted. The other part of the story that was very thin was the fact that Sarah (Will's wife) was able to obtain the stolen tablet and reset the codes to reduce the fire by getting back the power in the tall building where the water sprinklers were able to come back on. 

The movie ends too clean. Will and his family are reunited, the police arrest the chinese gang members, and some how, Will was able to go off into the sunset with his lovely wife, kids, and life intact. 

I found a lot of the aspects of the movie to be too predictable. I liked the action but I hated that it was too predictable. Hence the box office was pretty terrible on this movie. The movie cost $125million dollars and only has earned $35 Million domestic dollars at this point. 

Giving this movie 2 and 1/2 stars. 

Next movie: The Equalizer 2 starring Denzel Washington 

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Mocha Sistah