I like disaster movies and I didn't expect this movie to live up to the Steve McQueen/Paul Newman version of a high-rise disaster, but come on! There are just so many things that were so ridiculous, I don't even know where to begin. The only things that deserve the 5-stars are Claire Forlani for being gorgeous, wicked smart, and the hero who saves the day and Jamie Bamber for being the eye-candy.
The basic plot of the movie is that a 60+ story high-rise is being built by a man who cuts corners. He and his "fixer" kill the building inspector who couldn't be bribed by pushing her down an elevator shaft. Six months later, Brianna Bronson (Claire Forlani) is an engineer that is working for the company that will be buying the building from the developer once she performs her final safety inspection. The developer realizes that she can't be bribed, so his fixer manufactures a fake affair to force her off the job to focus on saving her family. As the construction finishes completion (and businesses are already moving into the building), Brianna is being sued for divorce by her husband Tom (Jaime Bamber) based on her "infidelity" and, of course, his lawyer's office is on the 60th floor of the building. While the parents are meeting with their lawyers in the building, their two kids are examining the doctored photos of the so-called affair and realize that they are fake so they head to the building to let their parents know. And that's when there is an explosion that causes catastrophic damage to the building and things get really bad (and not in a good way):
The movie takes place in Antwerp, yet everyone seemed to have American accents -- except the fire chief. When the explosion happens, a piece of HVAC equipment shoots out of the building, then falls 20 stories to crash through the lobby skylight and then smashes through a very thick concrete floor into the parking garage below. When the kids call the dad's phone to tell him they are stuck in one of the elevators, the mom never once uses her phone to call emergency to inform them of this fact. The firemen do absolutely nothing in this film except give Brianna and Tom the tools they need to save their kids. Most useless firemen ever. Dozens of highly educated adults who don't know elevators are bad in fires or that the smoke is deadly. The mom using the sleeves of her blouse to protect her hands while she uses the elevator cables to slide down 40 stories to her kids and yet the fabric and her hands are absolutely fine. The firemen bring the elevators to the bottom floor (which is in the parking garage filling up with gas from a busted line) yet there are no firemen there to ensure that the elevators are empty despite being told in the beginning that there are people trapped in the elevators. When Brianna saves her daughter from the parking garage, why does she take her through the lobby (which is a level up) instead of through the entrance to the garage? The helicopter pilot who lost control of the helicopter but managed to crash it right in the space between the fire-trucks and the building without damaging any of them, or the fireman standing right there, should be commended.
I get that in a disaster film, you have to suspend reality a little bit but the things I listed above are such basic things that they can't be overlooked and they were things that could have easily been addressed.
The basic plot of the movie is that a 60+ story high-rise is being built by a man who cuts corners. He and his "fixer" kill the building inspector who couldn't be bribed by pushing her down an elevator shaft. Six months later, Brianna Bronson (Claire Forlani) is an engineer that is working for the company that will be buying the building from the developer once she performs her final safety inspection. The developer realizes that she can't be bribed, so his fixer manufactures a fake affair to force her off the job to focus on saving her family. As the construction finishes completion (and businesses are already moving into the building), Brianna is being sued for divorce by her husband Tom (Jaime Bamber) based on her "infidelity" and, of course, his lawyer's office is on the 60th floor of the building. While the parents are meeting with their lawyers in the building, their two kids are examining the doctored photos of the so-called affair and realize that they are fake so they head to the building to let their parents know. And that's when there is an explosion that causes catastrophic damage to the building and things get really bad (and not in a good way):
The movie takes place in Antwerp, yet everyone seemed to have American accents -- except the fire chief. When the explosion happens, a piece of HVAC equipment shoots out of the building, then falls 20 stories to crash through the lobby skylight and then smashes through a very thick concrete floor into the parking garage below. When the kids call the dad's phone to tell him they are stuck in one of the elevators, the mom never once uses her phone to call emergency to inform them of this fact. The firemen do absolutely nothing in this film except give Brianna and Tom the tools they need to save their kids. Most useless firemen ever. Dozens of highly educated adults who don't know elevators are bad in fires or that the smoke is deadly. The mom using the sleeves of her blouse to protect her hands while she uses the elevator cables to slide down 40 stories to her kids and yet the fabric and her hands are absolutely fine. The firemen bring the elevators to the bottom floor (which is in the parking garage filling up with gas from a busted line) yet there are no firemen there to ensure that the elevators are empty despite being told in the beginning that there are people trapped in the elevators. When Brianna saves her daughter from the parking garage, why does she take her through the lobby (which is a level up) instead of through the entrance to the garage? The helicopter pilot who lost control of the helicopter but managed to crash it right in the space between the fire-trucks and the building without damaging any of them, or the fireman standing right there, should be commended.
I get that in a disaster film, you have to suspend reality a little bit but the things I listed above are such basic things that they can't be overlooked and they were things that could have easily been addressed.