Escape Plan (2013)
Certified: 15
Duration: 115 minutes
Directed by: Mikael Håfström
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Caviezel, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Vinnie Jones, Vincent D’Onofrio, Amy Ryan, Sam Neill, Faran Tahir, Caitriona Balfe, Matt Gerald, Graham Beckel
KRS release
Sylvester Stallone is Ray Breslin, a man who is a master at escaping from prisons. He is partnered up with Lester Clark (Vincent D’Onofrio) in a firm called Breslin-Clark, a company that specialises in examining and testing prisons.
Breslin has up till now foiled 14 prisons and he is very much in demand. His latest job takes him to a super-secure prison. This involves a huge pay date but Ray’s staff, Abigail (Amy Ryan) and Hush (Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson), are very suspicious of this deal. Ray ends up imprisoned, but in a different and unknown location.
Prison boss Warden Hobbs (Jim Caviezel) and his chief guard Drake (Vinnie Jones) do their best to keep the prisoners under their hold. Ray discovers that Hobbs does not know about him, and for him, he is just another criminal. Ray quickly becomes part of the prison mob, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Javed (Faran Tahir) and Emil Rottmayer (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Soon Breslin and Rottmayer join up to test the prison security and escape.
With the teaming up of Stallone and Schwarzenegger – the two pillars of 1980s box-office hits and stalwarts of the action genre – the producers have unabashedly delivered a film that is a 1980s nostalgia trip. The two protagonists know that they are the centre of attraction and they hog the spotlight.
Escape Plan is, in fact, not about action, even though it is an action thriller, but about its two icons. They carry the film with expertise and manage to hide their years. Overall, it is more of a Stallone-style picture, as it harkens back to the days of Lock Up (1989).
Everything plays second fiddle to the main duo
Along for the ride is Caviezel who once played Jesus in the Passion of the Christ; here is as mean and flamboyant as can be. He hams it up and is quite surprising as a villain who has no qualms. Neill also delivers a noteworthy performance as a prison doctor.
Another factor worth mentioning is the design of the prison nicknamed The Tomb which gives the film its smart edge.
Everything, however, plays second fiddle to the main duo. In its gait the film harks back to Hollywood’s glory days and amalgamates plenty of elements to deliver good popcorn entertainment. Fun times the Arnie and Sly way are secured!