Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone) is a prison escape artist. As a co-owner of a consulting company that aims to show wardens and prison owners how to make their prisons fully escape proof by exposing their problems and planting Breslin inside, letting him work his magic as he escapes from their prisons.
When a very lucrative offer comes up to attempt to break out of a private, secret, and high-tech inescapable prison called “The Tomb,” Breslin accepts and soon finds out that this was a ploy to get him off the map and stuck in prison forever. In order to escape the prison that is modeled after his studies, he recruits inmate Emil Rottmayer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) to help him make it a reality while Warden Hobbes (Jim Caviezel) watches closely to make sure they don’t. Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Vinnie Jones, Vincent D’Onofrio and Amy Ryan co-star in the film as well.
Directed by Mikael Håfström (1408), Escape Plan unites two of the greatest action stars ever in leading roles, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, changing things up after sharing the screen for only a few minutes at a time in The Expendables films. Not only that, they star in an action thriller about escaping out of a ridiculously fortified prison, I mean if there was ever a movie made specifically for me, this is definitely it. Two of my favorite stars in my favorite sub-genre, prison break films, if you can’t already tell this is going to be a very biased review.
Since The Tomb is a place where only the worst of the worst criminals, terrorists and other horrible people are sent, the warden basically makes up his own rules with how to govern and treat the prisoners. When they misbehave they are exposed to harsh conditions, beating from the faceless guards, hot boxes and more. Their wounds are treated without any pain killers and they all sleep in small clear cells with camera everywhere so that they can see everything. It’s an intense set-up and doesn’t allow much wiggle room for an escape but then there is a twist which you don’t see coming that creates an even bigger problem for Breslin if he ever wants to see the sun again.
There are aspects of Escape Plan that are very typical and predictable. It’s easy to figure out how Breslin ended up in the prison without a way out but then, for those who actually care to pay close attention, you might also be able to figure out why, though I didn’t until the reveal came. SPOILERISH Furthermore, this is a movie with Stallone in the lead and if you’ve seen a good amount of his films you know that he never goes do
wn without a fight so I’ll let your imagination run wild now that you know that. END SPOILER
The script itself is a little shaky, for some reason they want to break Breslin as a person but then randomly stop, and the dialogue can feel forced and off at times, exactly like you’d expect to hear from an 80’s action film thanks to all the banter that’s going on between all the characters. The great part about this is you get some hilarious lines, particularly from Arnold who manages to steal almost every scene and gets some serious belly laughs from the crowd. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an action thriller where I literally burst out laughing for an extended period of time. There is a scene involving a request for people to smile and I don’t think similar requests in other films can ever top that hilarious moment.
Escape Plan was made for those who like cool movies (who doesn’t like movies about people trying to escape a prison?) and who love action heroes. This movie has everything you could ever want from a movie starring both Stallone and Schwarzenegger, it even includes a fantastic and magical close-up on Schwarzenegger’s face before he starts shooting people with a machine gun. Furthermore, the movie does have some really cool features, the prison it pretty impressive, as well as some fun twists and turns. The movie itself will likely be forgettable but the chemistry between the two stars is electric and you can tell the guys are having a lot of fun on screen which is really what helps make the film so much more enjoyable than it would have been if anyone else had landed those roles. Get ready for a good time at the movies.
Rating: A highly enjoyable thriller if you’re a fan of prison movies and/or two of the greatest action stars ever (6.7/10)
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