Dwayne Johnson has built his brand so successfully by never deviating too far from his well-established screen persona. It’s a strategy that’s worked out for him, no doubt, but sometimes you wish he’d branch out a bit and step into new territory.
After all, if you’ve seen one movie starring the man formerly known as The Rock, chances are you’ve seen them all. Often, he’ll be featured in the role of either a charismatic law enforcement agent, loveable family man or gentle giant with a big heart that betrays his huge frame, with his efforts usually falling under the category of action-packed summer blockbusters. And while you can almost always count on his films to attract a lot of attention, they don’t always go over too well with critics or even audiences.
For instance, one of his more forgettable recent movies is Skyscraper, which is basically “The Rock does Die Hard.” It’s tough to imagine that kind of film not performing well, but surprisingly, the pic fizzled out at the domestic box office, bringing in just $68 million. Internationally, however, audiences seemed to respond better to it, with Skyscraper earning about $236 million. Presumably, then, that might explain why it’s currently dominating the Netflix global charts.
According to FlixPatrol, the film is the tenth most-watched movie on the streaming site today as far as the worldwide list goes. It doesn’t even appear on the US-only list, however, meaning its popularity is clearly coming from a surge in views overseas. And again, that makes sense given how its box office takings turned out as far as domestic and international numbers go.
In any case, for those unfamiliar with Skyscraper, it sees Dwayne Johnson playing a “security expert who must infiltrate a burning skyscraper, 225 stories above ground, when his family is trapped inside by criminals.” There’s no real surprises here, either, as it unfolds pretty much how you’d expect.
With some unconvincing CGI and terrible dialogue, this is far from The Rock’s finest hour and the pic was quickly forgotten about after it left theaters. But now, it seems to be finding a new lease of life on Netflix, with many subscribers clearly in the mood for some disposable entertainment featuring the world’s biggest movie star.
