Escape Plan

ESCAPE PLAN

Director : Mikhael Hafstrom

Year : 2013

Genre : Action

Rating : ***1/2

On the face of it, 'Escape Plan' may be just another generic action thriller, but thanks to some strong performances, well orchestrated set pieces and the coupling of two of the genres biggest legends, the film becomes a lot more fun and entertaining than many of it's geri-action counterparts. Sure it's not going to win any awards and it will probably be forgotten once you leave the cinema, but while it is playing, 'Escape Plan' is dumb headed, escapist frivolity that should slake the less demanding cinematic appetites; and what is wrong with that?

Sylvester Stallone plays Ray Breslin, the world's foremost on prison security who can break out of any facility on Earth. After being hired by a top secret organisation to test their new holdings, he is framed and thrown into a supposedly unbreakable fortress; a prison that houses the most dangerous criminals in the world. With the help of a fellow inmate played by Arnold Schwarzenegger and using all of his acquired skills, Ray must find a way of breaking out of incarceration and find the person who is responsible for putting him behind bars. 

Directed by Swedish filmmaker Mikhael Hafstrom who made the disappointing big screen adaptation of Stephen King's '1408' and the rubbish 'The Exorcist' ripoff 'The Rite', 'Escape Plan' is about as conventional as these things come. It has absolutely no surprises whatsoever and pans out exactly the way it is expected to. The heroes are heroes and the villains are villains, character development is at ground level and the narrative is about as linear and as predictable as any I have seen this year. However, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't like it. The actors all do what they do best; Stallone does his deep, unintelligible growling, Schwarzenegger does, well Schwarzenegger and the direction by Hafstrom, while basic, suits the retro 1980's style of the picture perfectly. 

It is by no means a masterpiece and as predictable as they come, but for what it is, 'Escape Plan' is an efficient, well made confectionery that will definetly appeal to the fans of the silly, overblown action movies that made Stallone and Schwarzenegger stars in the first place.