Lockout
BLU-RAY 
|
Director:
James Mather, Stephen St. Leger Actors: Guy Pearce Maggie Grace Peter Stormare Rating:
 Printer-Friendly version
|
 Critic's 10 Latest |
|---|
WHAT'S IT ABOUT?
In a bid to clear his name after being framed for murder, an ex-CIA operative is sent to rescue the President’s daughter from an experimental space prison overrun by violent inmates.
IS IT A GOOD MOVIE?
LOCKOUT had a lot of potential. We’re seriously due for a balls-to-the-wall John Carpenter-style action adventure flick like this. And if there’s a man who can fill Snake Plissken’s anti-hero shoes it’s Guy Pearce, who still has yet to find the right role to deliver on the promise suggested by L.A. CONFIDENTIAL and MEMENTO. This Luc Besson-produced movie seemed to cover all those bases.
As predicted, Pearce’s Snow is easily the best part of LOCKOUT. He’s rough and tough yet relatably human. He’s irreverent and a smartass, which gives the actor plenty of room to show off his knack for delivering one-liners. And Pearce makes a great action star, taking a beating just as well as he can dish it out. This is exactly the kind of role that’s perfect for him and dare I say he’s worth the price of admission. It’s just a shame the rest of the movie isn’t as good as he is.
The main issue is that LOCKOUT is inexplicably PG-13. This is a film just aching to be rated R, with brutal violence, unrestrained cursing and unapologetic grittiness. For God’s sake, it’s set on a space prison filled with the world’s most violent criminals (made even more savage as a result of hypersleep) and they can’t even curse! You can really feel the writers and the actors straining to just go for it, but they can’t. And the result feels watered down and not allowed to live up to its potential. The unrated cut seems to add in one or two extra killshots, but nothing a pre-teen couldn’t handle.
Of course if a movie is solid in other departments it can still overcome its rating. But LOCKOUT also suffers at the script level. In their bid to go old-school, writer-directors James Mather and Stephen St. Leger simply took every action cliché, from plot points to lines directly lifted from much better movies, and threw it in a blender. Obviously this is just a loose remake of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, but it doesn’t bring anything new to the table or even copy it that successfully. In fact, it’s embarrassingly stupid how the story progresses and the banter between Snow and the President’s daughter is almost unbearable. It’s not Pearce or Maggie Grace’s fault, just the writing.
And for a futuristic action movie, it just feels small; looking like the whole thing was filmed on a few choice sets. With a budget of $20 million that’s to be expected, but there’s definitely ways to make the most out of what you have and to do it in exciting ways. (See THE RAID.) Things like the anti-gravity fight and the continuous-shot motorcycle chase should’ve been cooler in execution, not just theory. (Not to mention the latter has some of the worst CGI I’ve ever seen.)
As predicted, Pearce’s Snow is easily the best part of LOCKOUT. He’s rough and tough yet relatably human. He’s irreverent and a smartass, which gives the actor plenty of room to show off his knack for delivering one-liners. And Pearce makes a great action star, taking a beating just as well as he can dish it out. This is exactly the kind of role that’s perfect for him and dare I say he’s worth the price of admission. It’s just a shame the rest of the movie isn’t as good as he is.
The main issue is that LOCKOUT is inexplicably PG-13. This is a film just aching to be rated R, with brutal violence, unrestrained cursing and unapologetic grittiness. For God’s sake, it’s set on a space prison filled with the world’s most violent criminals (made even more savage as a result of hypersleep) and they can’t even curse! You can really feel the writers and the actors straining to just go for it, but they can’t. And the result feels watered down and not allowed to live up to its potential. The unrated cut seems to add in one or two extra killshots, but nothing a pre-teen couldn’t handle.
Of course if a movie is solid in other departments it can still overcome its rating. But LOCKOUT also suffers at the script level. In their bid to go old-school, writer-directors James Mather and Stephen St. Leger simply took every action cliché, from plot points to lines directly lifted from much better movies, and threw it in a blender. Obviously this is just a loose remake of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, but it doesn’t bring anything new to the table or even copy it that successfully. In fact, it’s embarrassingly stupid how the story progresses and the banter between Snow and the President’s daughter is almost unbearable. It’s not Pearce or Maggie Grace’s fault, just the writing.
And for a futuristic action movie, it just feels small; looking like the whole thing was filmed on a few choice sets. With a budget of $20 million that’s to be expected, but there’s definitely ways to make the most out of what you have and to do it in exciting ways. (See THE RAID.) Things like the anti-gravity fight and the continuous-shot motorcycle chase should’ve been cooler in execution, not just theory. (Not to mention the latter has some of the worst CGI I’ve ever seen.)
THE EXTRAS
Breaking in to LOCKOUT (11:07): Cast and crew give some explanation behind the story and the characters, as well as some glimpses in to production.
A Vision of the Future (10:13): Various members of the art and FX department discuss creating future technology, designing the sets and working with green screen. The previz on the uni-bike sequence looks exactly the same as the finished product.
Previews and an UltraViolet Digital Copy are also included.
A Vision of the Future (10:13): Various members of the art and FX department discuss creating future technology, designing the sets and working with green screen. The previz on the uni-bike sequence looks exactly the same as the finished product.
Previews and an UltraViolet Digital Copy are also included.
FINAL DIAGNOSIS
LOCKOUT sounded better in theory than it comes off in execution, though Guy Pearce’s fun anti-hero performance might be enough to recommend watching even if the script and action doesn’t deliver.
Extra Tidbit: Peter Stormare should not try a Southern accent again.
Extra Tidbit: Peter Stormare should not try a Southern accent again.
Ok Movie