Lockout

Come on people, watch it for what it is. Yes it's silly, it's supposed to be. It looks great and slides down easy. Guy Pearce is a blast to watch as he struts and mouths off throughout the film in a manner I haven't seen since Bruce Willis in the Last Boy Scout. This is an 80's action movie at it's core set in space. One of failures of recent action movies trying to be an 80's action flick is that they forgot that the hero needs to go up against a memorable villain. In this we get 2 brothers that actually deliver the goods. Add in a fancy Star Wars inspired ending and you have fine Friday night escape.

Don't think too hard and enjoy the trip.

In 2079, in Washington, the ex-CIA Operative Snow (Guy Pearce) is brutally interrogated, accused of treason against the United States. The chief of the secret service Scott Langral (Peter Stormare) believes that he shot the agent Frank in a hotel room.

Meanwhile, the idealistic daughter of the president of the USA, Emilie Warnock (Maggie Grace), is visiting MS One, a maximum security prison in outer space expecting to find evidences that the prisoners are actually guinea pigs of a huge corporation. When one of her bodyguards loses a hidden pistol for the dangerous prisoner Hydell (Joseph Gilgun), he subdues the staff in the central control room and releases the prisoners, including his brother Alex (Vincent Regan) that becomes the leader of the riot.

Now the veteran agent Harry Shaw (Lennie James) offers freedom to Snow if he succeeds in rescuing the president's daughter. But the idealistic Emilie does not want to leave MS-One without the hostages.

"Lockout" is a movie with a well known storyline and nothing new, but also highly entertaining. The story uses the idea of "Escape from New York" and "Escape from L.A" with "No Escape" ("Absolom") and other prison movies. The tough Snow is a cynical and selfish antihero visibly inspired in Snake Plissken and the stubborn Emilie has stupid attitudes, but at least is consistent. The haywire villain Hydell is funny. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Sequestro no Espaço" ("Abduction in the Space")

I found this to be a great, fun, well-acted, funny, and "unique" take on the typical action films of our our past. I say "unique", because it is not, in any way, unique. I give that the setting is something new, but all in all, this movie pulls from great movies past, and in doing so, made off with a seasoned, enjoyable film.

Guy Pearce was flawless and oddly fresh as the standard "I don't care" action hero. The Snake Plisken-gone right character was the driving point of the whole film, and definitely the best part. Maggie Grace pulls off her best performance yet, even well above her LOST and Taken characterization, showing that a "Taken"-style damsel doesn't have to be in distress. The villains were all over the board in this film, with neither one taking complete center stage. All of them equally hold the necessary torch for the situation.

This is a story that has been told before, but in a new way that is fresh and fun. The acting makes this movie truly what it is, and with solid action, and excellent pace, I believe this subtle action film may be the best yet of the year (future films not comparable).

When I watched Lockout, I didn't even know it was from Luc Besson until I saw his name at the start of the movie. This got me excited remembering how I like his past films especially "The Fifth Element". Besson's films seem to have that unique polish and style that places them in a class between A and B movies. They always have some ludicrous scenes and effects included similar to B movies but they are definitely justified in the end by how much "Class A" fun and twists the overall experience it generates for the viewers. If we measure this movie on those aspects, Lockout is no different from Luc's other films although this one is special in a way that it brought back fond memories for people like me who were already actively seeing films like this back in the 80's and 90's. Lockout is a modern version of those films with some new concepts added from this era.

Some of the non-Besson films/TV series that Lockout reminded me of are Army of Darkness, Cowboy Bebop, Die Hard, Escape from New York, Fortress, Firefly / Serenity, Minority Report, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

I can see that Lockout, like most of the other movies I previously specified, can also have a cult following. So I truly hope the current generation will like this movie enough to give it a chance to have a sequel. Sometimes, you just need to relax your mind and allow it just the right amount of activity to enjoy a fun cruise like this type of films can provide. More power to Mr. Besson!

First off, Lockout is not meant to be taken seriously. It is a fun action sci-fi movie that breaks the boundaries of what it physically possible. Remember when you were a kid playing with your little action figures in the sandbox, well that is how they designed Lockout. They forgot about what is real and what can actually be done and simply had fun.

Guy Pearce is hilarious and teamed up with Maggie Grace the laughs just keep rolling. It is an action, sci-fi, comedy that is amazingly well crafted if you can take your thinking cap off and just have fun. There are a few plot twists, but nothing you didn't see coming. While Lockout doesn't really bring anything completely new to the table, it is very entertaining and well worth multiple viewings.

Due to mixed reviews I did not expect much, but Lockout really impressed me with its style and fast paced action. Other reviews has said that the special effects looked terrible, that is simply because of the style. One thing Lockout has is style and solid direction and cinematography. They knew what they were doing with this movie and they pulled it off perfectly.

The PQ & AQ were great on Blu-ray and while the special features were lacking, it is still a solid Blu-ray release.

Recommended!