Review of Escape from L.A. (1996) by Michael P — 07 Jun 2013

Snake Plissken: Fuck you, I'm going to Hollywood...

"Snake is Back".

Okay, so Escape from LA isn't a prototypically good movie. The effects are awful, the plot and action stupid, and the acting is below average. Still John Carpenter, in his decline, is able to create a fun and cool film. Maybe it isn't good, but there's still so much enjoyment to get out of Escape from LA. That's something Carpenter, for the most part, has always been able to do. Maybe by this point of his career he wasn't making movies like Halloween or The Thing, but somehow movies like Prince of Darkness, Village of the Damned, and this are still able to be fun to watch while not particularly being good.

Snake is again captured and proposed a deal by the US government and the president who now in dystopia 2013 is president for life. Also all undesirables, which range from atheists to smokers, are deported to the island of LA. LA was broken apart by a huge earthquake and now is the territory of a terrorist named Cuervo who has a doomsday device that was brought to him by the presidents daughter. Snakes mission; to secure the device and kill the daughter. Oh, and he only has nine hours to do it or the virus the government infected him with will kill him.

I was struck by a lot of things in this movie, but número uno was how bad the special effects were. This however fit the movie surprisingly well. Everything from Russell's whispering dialogue to the plot to the effects is so ridiculous and silly; but it all still winds up working in the end, even if just barely.

As a Carpenter fan, I'll watch anything he's made, and for the most part, van find enjoyment in most of it. That's how it was with Escape from LA. If you go into this knowing Carpenter's style and just allow the ridiculousness to take you over, you'll have a good time. If you go in expecting a great movie from Carpenter, you'll be disappointed. It's worth a look if you are able to not take it too seriously.