Review of Escape Plan (2013) by Renzo V — 03 May 2014

"BREAKING OUT IS AN INSIDE JOB".

- 'Escape Plan' is a 2013 action movie by director Mikael Hâfström (1408, The Rite), starring Hollywood's greatest action hero actors Sylvester Stallone (First Blood: Rambo, Cliffhanger) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (Predator, Conan The Barbarian) who again joined forces after doing 'The Expendables'. I was pretty excited when I learned these two were doing another film together, but now that I've seen 'Escape Plan' I must confess I'm not completely satisfied. I somehow expected more. I do like the setting and the whole idea, but the atmosphere just isn't the same as in their glory days. It's okay, but not great. In the cast we also see Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ, Unknown), 50 Cent (Righteous Kill), Vinnie Jones (Gone in 60 Seconds, The Condemned) and Sam Neill (Jurassic Park, Daybreakers). Do you think they can get out?

Ray Breslin (Stallone) tests prison facilities by infiltrating, studying the behaviors of the guards and seeking the weakest points in order to escape. He's part of a business that confronts prisons with their weakest spots in order to reduce the number of escapes. One day he is offered an assignment from a young CIA-agent to escape from a top-secret prison. Ray agrees. But not everything goes as planned during his capture under the alias of Anthony Portos.

When he wakes up after being sedated, he finds himself in a large hall with many glass cells. He has never seen anything like it. In order to get out, he must have an accomplice. Inmate Emil Rottmayer (Schwarzenegger) is up for the task and provides Ray with the things he asks for. He soon finds out that the prison is inside a cargo ship on the middle of the ocean. Being watched closely by the Warden Willard Hobbes (Caviezel) and his chief security officer Drake (Jones), Ray and Emil make their plans. Unfortunately things get complicated when Hobbes finds out the truth about Ray/Portos. The only person who will be able to help them escape is the medical officer Kyrie (Neill)...