Skyscraper

Will Sawyer, a Marine veteran turned Federal Bureau of Investigation's Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) leader, loses his left leg below the knee when he and HRT colleague Ben Gillespie encounter a hostage taker with a suicide bomb. Ten years later, Will, now a private security consultant, is recommended by Ben to review security for "The Pearl", a 3,500 feet (1,100 m) skyscraper located in Hong Kong that comprises 225 floors and is the tallest in the world. His wife Sarah (the naval doctor who treated him 10 years prior) and twin children Henry and Georgia stay with him on the not-yet-opened residential floors. Meeting with Ben, the Pearl's owner Zhao Long Ji, security director Okeke, and head insurance underwriter Pierce, Will reported that the computerized fire and security systems have passed his tests, though he needs to inspect the offsite security center. Zhao provides Will with a tablet that gives him complete control over the Pearl's systems, accessible only to his biometric credentials. Will and Ben head to the offsite facility, but a mugger hired by international terrorist Kores Botha attempts to steal the tablet. Ben betrays and attacks Will for the tablet, resulting in Will killing Ben. Botha and a group of his men break into the Pearl and undermine the safety systems by using a water-reactive chemical to start a fire on the 96th floor, creating a barrier that renders it impossible to enter or exit from the upper 130 floors. Will tries to return to the Pearl, but is attacked by Xia, one of Botha's associates. Xia and her agents take the tablet, kill everyone at the offsite facility, and use the tablet to disable the fire-extinguishing systems in the Pearl and activate the air vents, spreading the fire to the upper floors. Zhao and Okeke send security guards to rescue Will's family, but the guards are killed in an explosion and the family is believed dead. Urged on by Pierce, Zhao orders the remaining personnel to evacuate by helicopter. Pierce, another of Botha's accomplices, kills all of them as Zhao escapes into his penthouse apartment and locks it down from any intrusion. Hong Kong Police Force Inspector Wu and his team attempt to secure the Pearl and capture Will, who is framed for the incidents. Will evades them and makes his way into the Pearl above the fire barrier using a crane from an adjacent building. He kills Pierce before Pierce can kill his family, though Georgia is separated from the others. Will has Sarah and Henry ride through the fire barrier in a free-fall elevator before applying the emergency brakes, letting them escape safely; Sarah immediately explains the situation to Wu and deduces that Botha's men will likely escape via parachute to a nearby landing zone (having encountered them earlier, on the 96th floor, before the fire, and seen them carry equipment with a parachute brand label on). Will finds Georgia, but they are captured by Botha, who demands Zhao in return for Georgia. Will is forced to dangerously scale the outside of the building to access the security panel for Zhao's penthouse, then enters and confronts him. Zhao explains that Botha had extorted money from him during the $6 billion construction project by threatening to cripple his workforce, but he kept a detailed computer file of the transactions as insurance, which can reveal accounts and names of three crime syndicates Botha works for, so Botha instigated the attack to obtain the records since his employers threaten to kill him. Will brings Zhao to Botha at the top of the Pearl, acquiescing to the trade for Georgia. However, Zhao distracts Botha, allowing himself and Will to kill Botha's thugs. Botha grabs Georgia and threatens to drop her off the building, but Will outsmarts him, rescues Georgia, and leaves Botha to die in a grenade explosion as he falls. Wu leads an attack on the drop zone, securing Xia after Sarah subdues her and killing her thugs. Sarah recovers the tablet and uses it to restart the Pearl's systems, extinguishing the blaze. Will, Georgia, and Zhao are brought down safely by helicopter, during which Zhao states his intention to rebuild the Pearl, shown to have massive fire damage extending from the 96th floor to the roof. The Sawyer family then happily reunites while Wu acknowledges and finally meets and greets Will.

Plot from Skyscraper (2018 film)CC BY-SA 4.0