Review of No Escape (2015) by Bryan F — 26 Aug 2015

Score one for Owen Wilson. Wilson, more known for his off-beat comedies such as "Wedding Crashers," "Marley & Me," and "Hall Pass," breaks out of these roles and stars in his own action-sequence movie. As in most action movies, the outcomes are predictable but this movie will leave you with some surprises.

The movie takes place in Asia at the palace of a countries Prime Minister. Here, the PM is just ending a meeting with what appears to be a prominent businessmen. As the meeting is concluded, the palace is raided by rebels and they assassinate the PM. After the assassination scene, the movie reverses course and shows Wilson on a plane with his family 17 hours before the assassination. Here, we learn Wilson is moving his wife and two daughters to Asia for his job. Wilson works for an American water company as an engineer.

Once they arrive to their destination (the name of the country is never mentioned in the movie), Wilson learns that he and his family are caught in the middle of a military coup that involves him being there. While leaving his hotel briefly the next day after their arrival, Wilson finds himself in the middle of a fight between the military in riot gear and armed citizens. From here, Wilson has to get back to his hotel safely, retrieve his family, and get out of the country before being captured and killed. Pierce Brosnan, who reprises his role as James Bond, plays a British CIA agent in the movie and assists Wilson's family in the escape.

Some of the action scenes are intense. For example, in one scene, Wilson and his family need to jump from one building to the next to avoid being killed. It's nerve-racking to watch all four members of the family attempt to cross this threshold as Wilson needs to perform the task of throwing both his daughter to the other building. It's the most intense scene in the movie.

The movie shows good sound quality. In one scene before the coup, Wilson and one of his daughters looks out of the window in their taxi to see the plight of many of its countries people. Many appear to be homeless and seem distraught by their conditions. The movie goes in slow motion as they are viewing the scenes outside of their taxi In another scene, as a tank fires at a building where Wilson and his family are hiding, the sound gets quiet as the sound of the tank firing becomes deafening rendering it hard to hear after the initial sound.

What the movie doesn't provide is a lot of background information. As mentioned before, the movie doesn't mention the name of the country where it takes place. It only mentions that it's in Asia. There is a reference to the Vietnam border in the movie so the assumption is that the movie takes place in one of the countries that border Vietnam. Also, the movie insinuates the country is having a military coup because they're not happy with an American company, the one Wilson works for, taking over its water system. However, during the course of the movie, you see non-Americans getting killed and it looks more like a Civil War than a military takeover.

With that being said, the action sequences are intense and will keep you guessing. Overall, I would recommend taking the time and money to watch this movie.