Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
An action film starring Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger … for anyone who grew up in the eighties, it sounds like the ultimate movie!
Fortunately, I barely made the eighties, so I see Escape Plan for exactly what it is – a silly film starring two past kings of the genre, who are now just short of 70 and long overdue to pass on their crowns. In my opinion, they just can’t pull off most of the scenes like they used to.
The film didn’t completely disappoint though. The majority of the movie takes place in prison, yet director Mikael Håfström uses interesting filming techniques to keep the audiences’ attention and draws them into the characters emotions with lots of close ups and fast cuts between shots.
However, for those of you expecting a hardcore action flick, this isn’t it. If you’re planning to break out of prison, you may learn some valuable lessons, but if you’re looking to spend 115 minutes admiring the duo in action, you’re better off watching The Expendables. Not to mention, the script was beyond terrible and cringeworthy.
Nevertheless, Stallone and Schwarzenegger are still the same loveable actors they always were and they probably know this movie is somewhat of a parody of their older work. I would definitely watch this movie again … only the next time, I’ll expect a comedy.
The film follows Ray Breslin (Stallone), authority on structural security. He analyses every high security prison by examining their flaws the only way he knows how … as an inmate.
Ray is imprisoned and must break out of wherever he is held in order to point out all the mistakes.
However, when his latest assignment lands him inside The Tomb, an undercover and secret prison running under the control of Hobbes (Jim Caviezel), a warden with a grudge against him, he must do all he can to find a way out of the facility.
Unbeknownst to Ray, his theories have been used to design this prison housing America’s most wanted criminals.
Ray is cut off from all his staff and must find flaws in his own theories to break out of the prison.
When Ray meets fellow inmate Emil Rottmayer (Schwarzenegger), he learns that he and many others were imprisoned due to corrupt officials. The two then form an alliance to find a way out … will they make it out? I’ll leave it to you to figure out.
Stallone and Schwarzenegger haven’t lost their touch when it comes to owning the scenes they are involved in.
Stallone moves around, climbing ladders and throwing punches as if he were still in the eighties – it may look like it takes a lot of effort, but he still puts in 100 per cent.
Schwarzenegger makes me laugh. He tries just as hard as Stallone but never seems to be taken as seriously. His one-liners make most of the film and yet he still gets put on the back burner throughout.
The film works hard to bring in an audience. By using big names in the cast, such as Jim Caviezel as the villain and rapper 50 cent, this movie proves to be for everyone.
If Escape Plan was released twenty years ago, it would have stolen the box office and would probably be the benchmark for most prison movies to date. It’s just a shame the actors are too old, the plot has some holes and, in my opinion, the references to Stallone and Schwarzenegger previous films are overdone.
With all this being said, Sly and Arnie always produce some sort of on screen magic, no matter what you expect out of the film.
* Showing in Showing in Cineco, Saar, Seef II, Al Jazeera
