Ex-FBI agent Will Sawyer (Dwayne Johnson) is now a security consultant and has been invited to review the safety of the tallest building in the world, The Pearl. Of course, he is about to have a really bad day as terrorists take control of the building. When they set the 96th floor on fire, trapping Sawyer’s family above the fire he sets out to save the day.

There are a lot of touchstones for Skyscraper that will go some way to understanding the film and how much you might enjoy it.

Firstly, it’s in the vein of good old fashioned 1970’s disaster movies such as The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno. The scale of destruction on display is as monumental as the feats required to overcome it.

Secondly, there’s a tinge of 80’s action movie in there. Cliffhanger might be the best example, not just because our hero spends a lot of time hanging from perilous heights. Our hero feels responsible for a failing in the prologue scene and will do everything they can to make amends. It also has a similarity with Die Hard, but not as much as you might think. Whilst a terrorist group do take control of a skyscraper, it doesn’t feel as brutal or violent.

Thirdly, this is a Dwayne Johnson action movie. That means we have the worlds biggest movie star right now doing what he does best. He’s charismatic, brave, full of family values and is the size of a house.

Knowing all of the above, you will probably have a good sense for how you will feel about this film. On a positive note you might have a nostalgic sense of enjoyment and at worse it’s going to be mostly passable.

If you wanted to be hyper critical it is a ridiculously easy target in terms of being able to pull the plot apart. But the reality is that if you can buy into a guy with one prosthetic leg climbing a 100 story crane, on the outside of the crane, before running and jumping into a building. Then I’m sure you will appreciate that it’s not worth much effort in pulling apart.

Equally, I would argue that it’s not even the best bonkers Dwayne Johnson action film this year (Rampage is) and we will very shortly be seeing the new Mission Impossible film, a series that already featured Tom Cruise hanging off the tallest building in the world, for real. Which beats CGI any day of the week.