Review of No Escape (2015) by Sidd M — 25 Aug 2015

No Escape is directed and written by John Erik Dowdle. It stars Owen Wilson, Pierce Brosnan, and Lake Bell.

No escape revolves around a business man and his family's move to Thailand. Prior to this move Jack Dwyer(Owen Wilson) is offered a job in Thailand that he simply can't refuse. This leads him to move his entire family there. Soon there after a riot breaks out and the rioters plan to kill any and all foreigners. Now Jack must find a safe haven for him and his family before they to are are hunted down with no escape.

No escape is an all-around popcorn flick. That is the fact that must be examined while reviewing this movie. What I mean by this is I didn't have any expectation of an Oscar winner going into this movie. I was looking for a thrilling and energetic movie. Did I get one? Not really.

I'm not saying No Escape was a terrible movie there were quite a few positives. For one Owen Wilson gives it his all and for the most part his portrayal of Jack Dwyer is very entertaining. Another good performance was that of Pierce Brosnan. He was mostly the comic relief of the movie and succeeded at that. Kudos to you Mr. Bond. I enjoyed the first half of the movie a lot. There was a genuine feeling of dread and some great shots. The cinematography was excellent and gave the film a dark and malicious vibe. The score played perfectly with the cinematography adding some serious suspense. I think the thing I liked most in the first half of the movie is that Owen Wilson was a normal guy not some secret spy trained in acrobatic espionage. The first half of the movie made him vulnerable and that's why it works so well.

Onto the negatives. I absolutely despised the kids. The younger one was more tolerable seeing that in a situation like that someone that young would react that way. But the 11 year old was the worst. She had to be carried everywhere and was an all-round nuisance to not only her parents but to the audience as well. Equally annoying if not more was the constantly crying Lake Bell in her portrayal of Annie Dwyer. With three central characters this irritating its hard to sympathize. The biggest negative for me was the entire second half. The movie's shaky cam rises as does the utterly unbelievable plot developments especially someone's second coming. The film tries to add depth to the rioters by giving them a half baked motivation touched upon through 4 sentences given nearing the end. It, as expected, fails due to Dowdle's unwillingness to show Americans in a bad light. I think one of the final nails in this inescapable coffin is the fact that somehow in the course of 6 hours Owen Wilson is pulling of Liam Neason level moves. But, the single worst part about the movie was the ending. It was so far fetched and unbelievable that people in my theater left before the credits started rolling. The ending relied on an inside joke that no one really cared about in the first place. Just plain bad.

I had fun with the first half of No Escape and painfully sat through the second half. I recommend seeing this movie and leaving around the 50 minute mark. Make up your own ending I guarantee it'll be better that the one actually put to the film. No Escape gets a C or a 4/10. There's no escaping the fact that this movie is plain mediocre.