Review of Escape from L.A. (1996) by Chris W — 09 Dec 2012
This is an unnecessary, though admittedly enjoyable sequel to Escape From New York. It's a reasonably fun guilty pleasure, even if it pretty much rehashes the first film, only with a bigger budget and more outlandishness.
In the then distant 2013, America has become a fascist moral empire, and Los Angeles, now an island, has become to the U.S. what Australia once was for the British: a place to dump all the criminals and undesirables. The President's daughter has gone rogue, stolen a doomsday device, and gone to L.A. to shack up with a revolutionary named Cuervo Jones who is getting ready to stage a retaking of the country.
Snake Plissken once again is called in to save the day, being, you know, expendable and all, but of course he has to be coerced into it, given 10 hours to recover the device, and eliminate both Jones and the president's daughter. If he fails, then he will succumb to virus that's been implanted in him.
Once again, Snake is plunged into a world filled with all kinds of colorful people, including Peter Fonda as a hippie surfer, Steve Buscemi as a slippery huckster, Bruce Campbell as a creepy plastic surgeon, and Pam Grier as a deep-voice transgender individual. I also loved who the villain Cuervo Jones is modeled after Che Guevara. A lot of these performances are pretty hammy, but nothing unbearable. Russell ultimately saves the movie and is the reason to see it, mostly because both he and the character are just so damn cool.
As far as the effects go, I think the original holds up better, even if this one has the bigger budget. The CGI here is quite dated and laughable, and even the non-computer trickery is fairly obvious in places. Still, the film has some cool sets, and takes some nice jabs at the culture of the location. That's another thing: this movie is really all over the place as far as tone, and it seems confused about whether it is a legitimate action movie, or a cheeky satire of one.
At least it's not boring, even if it is ultimately unnecessary and pointless. The music is good though, with a retooled, more western sounding theme, and some tracks by awesome contemporary bands like The Deftones, Clutch, Stabbing Westward, and Tool.
I don't totally recommend it, but it does have its moments, so if you feel you must, then go ahead.
This review of Escape from L.A. (1996) was written by Chris W on 09 Dec 2012.
Escape from L.A. has generally received mixed reviews.
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