Skyscraper - Dwayne Johnson (2018) - View from Tsim Sha Tsui...or not

A final post from Skyscraper I think before I move on to the next movie. This one is a bit of a mish-mash though with what appears to be a non-HK shot of a helicopter coming into land, combined with a real shot of Harbour City in the back left, plus the fake CGI building middle background and then with another real shot of Hong Kong Island as the far background.

However, although the two bits of Hong Kong that can be seen appear to be real, there is no way you can see that bit of HK Island from this part of TST looking in that direction. So I guess the film makers have just used two different shots and combined them to form the background environment with the CGI skyscraper slapped between them to hide the join :) 

Skyscraper - Dwayne Johnson (2018) - Central Ferry Piers, Hong Kong

The early scene when Johnson crosses the harbour on the "Victoria Ferry Company" (I guess the Star Ferry didn't want their name used) is a mixture of on-location footage and studio based ones. So for instance the ferry approaching the TST pier is obviously real. However, the follow up shot of the actors on the boat looks to me like a set. The ferry replica is good but the riveted windows are not the same as the real things which are inset into the frame and can be slid up and down.

Anyway, what follows after that is - what I think might be - the only shot from the whole film that features Dwayne Johnson physically on location in Hong Kong.

Finally, as the ferry comes into dock, we get a couple of real shots edited together with a not-so-great replica ferry pier for the close ups. So the first two, are obviously the real pier.

Real ^

Fake ^

Skyscraper - Dwayne Johnson (2018) - Central. Hong Kong

During the opening sequence, there is a couple of aerial views across the densely packed streets of Central District. In the top image it's a bit of a jumble, but the second one (showing the area that is in the top part of the first image) is much easier to identify. Staunton Street is running from bottom left to top right and the green area centre right is actually the old Police Married Quarters on Aberdeen Street (it's now an art "hub" called PMQ).

Skyscraper - Dwayne Johnson (2018) - Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong

There was a bit of a kerfuffle last year when Dwayne Johnson and co-stars were in town to promote Skyscraper. The film is centered around the world's tallest building, standing on the TST waterfront, which is subsequently overrun by terrorists whilst Johnson's movie family are trapped inside. Although there is a significant amount of footage of Hong Kong used in the film it looks as though, in terms of the actors being on the ground filming, I can only spot a single scene.

Most of the HK footage involves the not-very-convincing CGI skyscraper being stuck into what appears to be drone footage taken from various angles. This is the third film to "CGI" a building onto the HK landscape. The first was Largo Winch (2008) which, in my opinion, did a much better job. The second was Push (2008) which had a problem deciding where their building should be for continuity purposes, and now this one. You can judge for yourself from the various shots of the harbour where the building has been crow-barred in.