Review of Escape Plan (2013) by Quincytheodore — 22 Oct 2013

Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger alone could advertise this movie, and it's admittedly good to have them both on-screen, but Escape Plan tries to ravel in more cerebral plot which doesn't really work well nor does it have much depth in narrative. Script is sloppy, pacing is a bit clumsy and they soon revert back to the way of machine gun, which arguably might be the inherited charm they bring with them. This is a shame because these two of such fame deserve better material than the movie could provide.

To its credit, it starts off pretty well as Ray Breslin (Stallone) is introduced as prison break specialist. He would voluntarily enter a prison to test its design and escape by taking advantage of its flaws. With his illustrious career, he is hired to test a highly secretive shadily illegal prison. Everything isn't what it seems in this semi futuristic prison where he meets Emil Rottmayer (Schwarzenegger) a fellow inmate who claims to know secret location of most wanted man. Cue in some conspiracy later; it transpires into menial action thriller.

The events switch into slower pace later on, an ironic turn while the movie tries to churn clever ways to escape. It doesn't appeal much and frankly is inferior to many other similar movies with such premise. The tricks are dull, almost borderline implausible. The movie undoubtedly relies heavily on audience’s willingness to accept the nifty gimmicks and reception towards the duo combo. Plot twists are expectable, with barely any fresh idea in the mix. The pace is also rather uneven, it stutters when it should gain momentum and eventually just fades gradually more anticlimactic as it goes.

Script is downright terrible, as if the two action stars are still using dialogues from two decades ago. This may be due to familiarity to said style, but they would merit from smarter writing. Hammy one-liners are uttered every few minutes to weakly sell the bravado. Screenplay feels sporadic; sometimes it seems to cut too fast or just doesn't explain much. At the very least, it does provide some chuckles, although they may be somewhat intentional yet serendipitously are the more memorable moments of the movie. Stallone and Schwarzenegger still possess big screen charisma to attract audience; they do need more witty scenes and less exaggerated machismo though.

Escape Plan benefits from the stars duo and barely legitimate prison break premise, but its lack of thrill and slapstick script don't make for a compelling watch.