Review of Lockout (2012) by Robert H — 28 Jun 2016

Lockout is far from good but it's not exactly bad either. In fact, there's plenty of good in the film if you just look hard enough. The look and feel of the film is very good with FX that work both from the digital realm and the physical. The story is ok dealing with morality and prisons and human life and decency and politics. Where the film tends to fall apart is in the main characters. Our male lead is a Bruce Willis in Die Hard type character who's extremely masoginistic. The female lead is the "ditzy blonde" who means well but doesn't seem to understand how things work likely due to a sheltered life. Neither of these characters really make me want to watch them succeed. The performances from the actors is quite good but when the writting of the characters is of this level, it doesn't matter how good the acting is. There are some great pieces of dialogue however which only work because of the type of characters and the way they're acted but they don't quite redeem the already painful to watch (but only slightly) anti-heroes presented here. The characters aren't all bad. The two main baddies are very good and fun to watch and I kinda wish we had even more of them in the film.

Outside of the characters there are a few other items that might turn you away from the film. Ever watch a film that did things that just weren't believable? Lockout does quite a few of them. While I prefer to watch a film that grounds itself in reality so as to connect with the viewer better, I don't outright dismiss the films where you need to shut off your brain to enjoy them. Lockout is the kind of popcorn flick you simply sit back and let happen. Don't question what's taking place on screen. That will only make your head hurt. No. Let the mediocre story have its day and allow all the crazy on screen simply go on. Just watch... and eat the popcorn.