Review of Escape from L.A. (1996) by Kenny S — 14 May 2010

While the TRUE Carpenter fans out there begged and pleaded for him to do a Thing sequel, Carpenter instead gave us a sequel to his immensely popular and awesome Escape from New York. With Escape From L.

A., this campy and unintentionally funny sequel pales in comparison to the superior original film thanks to two MAJOR components. Firstly, the exploitation/grindhouse aspect that made the original so special is gone and replaced with that bad 90's style of filmmaking (trust me, nothing good came out of the 90's.

..NOTHING). Secondly, another thing that was gone was that fun and carefree group known as the MPAA, who were now replaced by religious, moronic zealots who are extremely censor-happy. The end result is Snake Plissken (the returning Kurt Russell, whose always awesome) being caught in NWO America, now completely full of itself with morals and ran by religious idiot Cliff Robertson (at least there's some good social commentary on Carpenter's battles with these folks), and sent to the new prison of L.

A. to retrieve stolen satellite weapon devices. Along the way, Plissken interacts with a wide array of cult classic actors and actresses, like Steve Buscemi, Bruce Campbell, Pam Grier, Peter Fonda, and Stacy Keach.

For what it's worth, this film is moderately entertaining. When held up beside Escape From New York, it's no contest that the sequel is practically a dud, with some cringe moments and rough story/plot points.

It's a shame this movie was made immediately after the original, or at least in the 80's for crying out loud, as it might have stood a better chance. In this end, this is probably the closest thing to a comedy film that Carpenter has ever done.