Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sylvester Stallone. When you hear those two action juggernaut’s names, you immediately think of big guns and high body counts. Now, while those are not in the least bit lacking, Escape Plan is a different approach to an action movie than you have grown accustomed to watching. But that’s not a bad thing!
Ray Breslin (Stallone), a top-notch structural-security authority, has been paid countless times to test the security of his client’s prisons. How? By breaking out, of course! After accepting a very compelling offer to break out of a prototype prison, Breslin is locked up and quickly realizes he has been set up. With no outside contact, he must team up with a fellow inmate (Schwarzenegger) to find a way out of this abyss of a prison.
Aside from Arnold and Stallone, this movie has its fair share of other great cast members, such as: Jim Caviezel (The Passion of The Christ), Amy Ryan (The Office), and Sam Neill (Jurassic Park). This makes for a fantastic surprise for the audience. The only critique I have for the movie, in terms of acting, is the casting choice for the character ‘Hush’. The casting department decided to go with Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson as the hacker extraordinaire. While he has had a few successful roles in other movies, I can’t buy in to the rapper as ‘the tech guy’.
The setting of this prototype prison is very interesting to me, because it designs a true glimpse at what a futuristic prison could look like someday. With its masked guards and single-occupant glass cells, it forms a realistic take on the next ‘Guantanamo Bay’.
The film’s cinematographer, Brendan Galvin, does a great job in this movie. Great lighting and camera angles creates a very believable and engaging environment. Nothing about the cinematography is stunningly ground-breaking, but it doesn’t distract the audience from the film’s plot. Not many things are more angering than when a cinematographer tries to be “revolutionary” by trying strange camera angles that end up being a gigantic distraction for the audience. And you won’t find that here.
The soundtrack for Escape Plan is exceptionally well done. Every suspenseful moment is dramatically increased with the an equally suspenseful track behind it, which is rare for this genre of film. It makes good use of a very skilled orchestra, and made me pleasantly surprised.
Escape Plan is a very interesting movie that, while not being the best prison break movie (I’m looking at you Shawshank Redemption!), provides a decent plot, good acting, and plenty of awesome Arnie one-liners. Which are, of course, the best part of his movies! The film presents enough of a fun viewing experience to keep you in your seat and eyes glued to the screen.
As a warning for any readers who are wanting to watch this film, I would like to tell you that this movie has the unfortunate issue that seemingly most action flicks have these days, profanity. So please keep this in mind, before heading into the movie.
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