I have a soft spot for these break-in/break-out films and I have much more than a soft spot for Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and action films in general. So Escape Plan should’ve been the greatest thing ever, right? Well, I went in with modest expectations after duds like The Last Stand, but I was still pretty hyped for this film. After watching the film, I am mostly happy with the final product but I just wish the dialogue was more interesting.
Escape Plan has Ray Breslin (Stallone) who spends his days getting into prison and then escaping by studying the design of the prison cell and the workers’ habits. One day, he is placed inside of a maximum security prison that will be his greatest challenge yet to escape from. This time, he needs some help. And what better help is there but Arnold Goddamn Schwarzenegger.
Tell me that doesn’t sound awesome. Even if you take away Sly and Arnold, this is still a cool premise to a movie. And the plot is one of this movie’s strongpoints. You are interested (for the most part) from beginning to end and you really want to see the outcome. The movie also keeps a mostly strong pace with not a whole lot of slowdown.
But let’s face it, this movie got my attention because of Sly and Arnold, two of my favorite actors of all time. And they are both great in this movie. They have fantastic chemistry with one another and even though the dialogue can slow things down, it’s still awesome seeing them on screen with a lot of that being from the fact that they are good action actors. The rest of the performances are perfectly fine with nobody really standing out.
So let’s talk about this dialogue that I’ve complained about. Half of the screenplay is the well written escape plans that Sly cooks up and some of the dialogue which was fine while the other half is the rest of the dialogue which is kind of slow. Some of the quips aren’t that funny (although a couple in particular were awesome) and the dialogue that takes place behind the scenes involving 50 Cent’s character was really uninteresting and I just wanted to get back to the action.
Don’t go into this movie thinking it’s Ocean’s Eleven or Inception and go in thinking it’s a less complex (which is a good thing) Now You See Me. It’s not the brightest screenplay but it’s certainly not the dumbest with some of the escape plans being pretty clever. It’s just that a good chunk of the dialogue was uninteresting and I just didn’t care.
What was very refreshing with Escape Plan was how good it looked. The camera was positioned very well with only a teeny bit of shaky cam during some of the more hectic action and the visual effects were pretty good. Your jaw isn’t going to drop but you’ll still be satisfied.
THE VERDICT
If you’re a huge Stallone and Schwarzenegger fan and/or you’re looking for a fun but cool film then you will be mostly satisfied with Escape Plan. If you’re looking for a smartly written movie or a guns-blazing action film then this is not the film to see. Escape Plan could’ve been smarter and funnier but it was still a mostly satisfying film to watch.
For reviews and more from me, Petey Oneto, you can check out my blog but be sure to check back to Resident Entertainment for more of my posts in the future.
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