Review of Escape from L.A. (1996) by Jared P — 12 Sep 2014

Snake is back! Escape from L.A is a pretty entertaining sequel that is lighter in tone than EFNY but still has some pretty smart ideas and some interesting satire.

As soon as it starts it feels very much like a good sequel should, it has the same soundtrack but modified for the 90s and has the same set up by the computer and it's all good. As the film goes on, though, it feels less of a sequel and more of a remake/reimagining of the first film but the film seems to be aware of this and parodies itself and the genre whilst also exploiting it at the same time and what we get is quite an interesting film that is quite confusing. It's confusing in the sense of it's such a weird mix of genres that the film is just so strange to watch.

One thing that is quite obvious though is that it does feel more 'sequely', the explosions are bigger, the sets are bigger, the special effects are more in your face as is everything else on the whole but being set in L.A it makes all the more sense. The cast definitely has a few more bigger names than previously with additions like Peter Fonda, Stacy Keach, Cliff Robertson and Steve Buscemi who probably jumped at the chance to be in a sequel to a sleeper hit. They all have their jokes, especially a very weird Peter Fonda performance and some characters seem to echo ones from the previous film with Buscemi seeming like Cabbie from before but Kurt's Snake certainly remains the straight man being totally unaffected by all the shenanigans going on around him and it's always good to see more of Snake.

The film still looked visually appealing and certainly has a unique atmosphere, being set in a different location, it should feel unique. The world that was set up in the first film definitely is still alive in the sequel and still feels very real. Saying that though, I do have to question where the massive budget went. The only thing I can think of is that they didn't know how to do special effects, it shows, and just went wildly over budget. Besides the big action set pieces, the areas Snake goes to look like what was done with the 6 million dollar budget from before, maybe the stars demanded more money? Who knows?

Like I said before, it feels more of a remake/reimagining but enough different things happen in the film and the plot does have quite a few deviations from the original to make the viewing experience feel different and not feel like you've just wasted time. I know the story can't be too different because of the theme of the films ( go in, get x, get out) but there becomes a point where it becomes silly and the film knows this, like I previously mentioned. The final few scenes in particular are quite awesome, firstly, it has a very satisfying fight scene but then presents some very smart and deep ideas that really make you think and ends on a very, very strong and powerful note- the way any film should.

It would be cool if each 'Escape from' film had a different tone, but, unfortunately never got an official sequel which is shame considering how many rubbish films gets loads of sequels. It was a little annoying at first knowing that the sequel was changed to be more of a satire, tongue-in-cheek actioner but the cynicism is as ever present as it was and does have some thought provoking ideas that just creep up on you. I do think it was funny that the original script written many years ago was thought of by Carpenter as 'too campy and too light' but that pretty much happened anyway.

Overall it is a very entertaining sequel that has a few surprises and does what a good sequel should, for the most part. The action is big and loud but has the wit creep up on you and ends pretty powerfully and is a sequel that could be watched by itself but I don't know why you would. Escape from Earth would have been great and a good way to end a series. Oh well...