Review of Lock Up (1989) by Jason D — 07 Sep 2009

Lock Up is the story of former prisoner Frank Leone (Sylvester Stallone) who escaped a hellhole prison some time ago and exposed the evil Warden's (Donald Sutherland, whose terrific) ways. Now, Frank willingly goes to serve the rest of his term (6 months) in a minimum security prison, but not before being viciously transferred to Gateway Prison, the worst prison in America, thanks to strings pulled from Sutherland who proceeds to make the next 6 months a pure, living hell for Frank by way of abusive guards, deadly inmates, and other nasty bits.

It's a shame I never watched this early Stallone movie sooner, as it manages to be a dumbed-down bit of popcorn entertainment that succeeds on many different levels. Stallone manages to portray a charismatic convict who tries to stay positive no matter what's thrown in his face.

The supporting cast is also very strong and manages to help Stallone elevate this to a better than average action flick, especially Sutherland. Aside from thost two, some of the other supporting cast includes John Amos (Good Times, Coming to America) as the head guard, Frank McRae (48 Hrs) & Tom Sizemore (Saving Private Ryan) as fellow inmates who befriend Stallone's character, and all-around badass Sonny Landham (the badass Native American from films like Southern Comfort, 48 Hrs, and Predator) as the inmate gunning for Stallone's blood.

Overall, a fun 80's action flick if you take out all reality and live in the magical moment of popcorn film.