REVIEW: Lockout (2012)

Genre: Thriller | Action | Sci-Fi
IMDB rating: 6.4/10 from 2,156 users
Directed by: James Mather, Stephen St. Leger
Starring: Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace and Peter Stormare
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1592525/


Lemme get this off my chest right away: This film is clichéd to the extreme, it defies logic at every turn, and it's the closest thing to an Escape From New York rip-off since Escape From L.A. (the lead character even buries a reference to it inside another reference, when alluding that he wants to party "like it's 1999"). Ergo it's honestly the most FUN I've had watching a guns-blazing science-fiction flick devoid of any brain matter since Sarah Palin's The Undefeated. 
(Edit: someone just emailed me to say that Palin's movie is actually a documentary that showcases her "success". PffffrrrrouAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!)

Don't get me wrong, I actually really liked it. It's not AS bad as you'd be led to believe from uptight criticisms written of it in places like Rotten Tomatoes or the National Republican Convention. It COULD have been disastrous (if good looking) had it been for a less perfect casting. Starting with Guy Pearce who hasn't seemed to enjoy himself so much playing a role since... heck ever - the guy NEVER looks like he's having fun, except maybe in full drag for Priscilla. But here, playing the wise-cracking badass Snake Snow, he's downright setting the tone for and carrying the film. Supported efficiently by a cadre of lesser-known yet solid faces, like Brits Vincent Reagan (why ISN'T that guy a MUCH bigger star?) and Joseph Gilgun playing the film's antagonists hilariously named Alex and Hydell (+100 points if you got that one without Googling it), underrated Lennie Jame always on hand for a solid turn, and the always-typecast Peter Stormare as the a-hole of the piece. The rest of the cast matter little, for these few grab all the screen time they're given and run off with it in every possible direction.

Nothing more to say really but to compare this fast-paced piece of fun to the aforementioned John Carpenter classic if it had met The Fifth Element in a bar late at night and decided to procreate. This would be the bastard grand child; all the fun, none of the Hollywood pressure to perform in any way, being a product of French action master Luc Besson (servings a s producer only, but still). No one was aiming for the Oscars here, but everyone is having a blast, and so was this viewer. Although I kinda have to say I'm glad I didn't actually pay to see it - boosts the enjoyment factor that much more...

Final Word: 7/10, purely for the entertainment value.

Wanna watch it? Use this link and thank me later!
http://forums.noor7.us/showthread.php/37142-Lockout-(2012)-BDRip