by Paul Gibbs ESCAPE PLAN
Grade: C+
Starring Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Shwarzenegger, Jim Caviezel, Sam Neill, Amy Ryan
Directed by Mikael Hafstrom
There's a very fine line between good B-movie schlock and "so bad it's good" cinema. Escape Plan, the new geriaction thriller starring 1980's action superstars Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, toes that line constantly, easily ranking as one of the silliest, most nonsensical movies of 2013. But in its own gonzo way, it's actually kind of entertaining.
Stallone stars as Ray Breslin, a security expert who has made a career out of being imprisoned then busting out to find the weaknesses in prison systems. Breslin and his partners are approached with a proverbial offer they can't refuse: $5 million for Breslin to attempt an escape from "The Tomb", a top secret cross between Gitmo, Shawshank and Rura Penthe. Of course things don't go as planned and Breslin quickly becomes a genuine prisoner of this hellhole, teaming with a mysterious prisoner (Shwarzenegger) to escape from the evil, sadistic warden (Jim Caviezel).
A lot of the fun in an escape movie comes from the ingenious plan hatched by the prisoners for their escape. But, while Stallone is capable of being a better actor than he is often credited with being, he's always at his most effective playing simple but sincere characters, not the sort of tactical genius he plays here. Of course, the script gives him convoluted, nonsensical escape plans that don't exactly help create the impression of Breslin being a genius. Still, Stallone's tough guy persona continues to work surprisingly well, and he manages to have his usual star preseence here. But the real fun comes from Shwarzenegger, who is clearly having a blast getting the chance to steal the film in a scenery chewing supporting role, including a lengthy, oddly hilarious sequence where he speaks German and emotes like Al Pacino (Arnold is credited with a drama coach, probably for this scene). It's both a welcome return to form and a refreshing change of pace for the aging ex-governor. It's not great acting per se, but it's a delightful movie star turn that will likely entertain anyone who has fond memories of The Terminator, True Lies or other Shwarzenegger vehicles. The least successful piece of casting is Caviezel. He doesn't have the presence the role requires, and while I hate to promote type casting, there's something that's just wrong about watching Jesus torture Stallone (perhaps being tortured by Mel Gibson gave him a deep-seaded resentment of action stars).
In the end, the fun of seeing Stallone and Schwarzenegger teamed up, along with a certain charm to the goofiness of the film, and thankfully brisk pacing, makes Escape Plan a guilty pleasure, and a fun movie to riff on. While I have never been an ardent fan of Stallone or Schwarzenegger, I do have a fondness for them in some of their films, and that's almost certainly necessary to enjoy Escape Plan. My critical/analytical side is adamant that the movie isn't good, and that it has a positively absurd number of plotholes The part of me that has a fondness for silly, schlocky B-movies thinks it's weirdly fun.
Escape Plan is rated R for profanity, violence, and couple of painful sequences of Stallone trying to be funny.
