Colbridge

This is one of the dumbest movies I have ever seen and a total waste of time. Not to be confused with two other movies with the same name this Escape Room, written and directed by Peter Dukes, is totally inept with a wafer thin plot, poor acting, poor direction and a very poor script.

With a short running time of 83mins, 7mins of which are taken up by a slow and overlong pre-title sequence, we don't get to know who these characters really are and they don't even try to solve any clues in order to escape. Instead the four people who we don't really care about are confronted by a mysterious figure standing in the room with them.

When one of them gets too close the figure lashes out, stabs and kills the victim with a pair of scissors. The lead up to this was quite intriguing and I was hoping it would go somewhere but it never did. Dukes thinks that having helpless females screaming and crying most of the way through creates tension but it doesn't. All four of them could have easily overcome the hooded killer, or at least took his scissors away from him, and maybe used a bit of intelligence in order to find a way out. Instead the victims just yell and holler 'let me out' and do little to help themselves in the situation.

The slight twist to the story is that the hooded figure is a possessed demon unleashed from a supposedly cursed box that was purchased from an antiques shop (the same box we see in the pre-title sequence) that was put in the room by the owner. Finding himself in financial difficulty the owner needs the escape room to succeed against his competitors so he tries to up the ante but even he didn't bargain for the supernatural plot twist. Again this doesn't go anywhere, there's no explanation as to why the demon kills and the non-sensical ending just makes this feel like an overlong student film school project. In fact the escape room is inconsequential, it's not really about an escape room, it's more about the cursed box which has no story behind it.

This could have been so much more if Dukes was willing to develope the plot, provide real moments of tension and invest in his characters rather than making this a lame Saw (2004) ripoff. The 'escape room' sub-genre deserves a better and more original story than this which is why you should check out Escape Room (2019) to see how to do it the right way with imagination, creativity and intrigue.

Apart from some awkward exposition at the start of the movie in an overlong pre-title sequence to help viewers catch up on not only what happened in the previous instalment Dead Reckoning (2023), but also catching up on the past 30 years of the Tom Cruise Mission:Impossible franchise, this latest and supposedly last instalment gets better and better as it picks up momentum about an hour in to drive along a story about mankind facing the threat of armageddon at the hands of AI technology gone wrong, to a heart pounding finale where only Ethan Hunt and his team can save the world.

Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie really go for it in telling a big ambitious story with breathtaking stunts and ramped up tension, especially the thrilling and claustrophobic underwater sequence involving a submarine. The good thing about watching a Mission:Impossible movie is that you can enjoy the action and thrills knowing Tom Cruise has really put himself through all the physical demands the role calls for without ever cheating the audience with CGI, body doubles or green screen. When you see him clinging onto the side of an aeroplane or free falling through the sky you know he's out there doing it for real, and all for our entertainment.

The regular supporting cast of Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames and Henry Czerny are back along with Hayley Attwell, Pom Klementieff & Esai Morales from Dead Reckoning and Hannah Waddingham and Tramell Tillman being welcomed additions to the cast. There's also a nod to the first film with a returning cast member that has a nice reveal as well as various plot points and loose ends getting tied up.

By now Tom Cruise knows what the audience wants and how to deliver and this film sets a high bar in high octane action and impressive stunt work. It's a spectacle for the big screen and is a thoroughly entertaining thrill ride that doesn't disappoint. However with a running time of 2hrs 49mins it does feel a tad too long with writing that is often cliched and talky, but I left the cinema actually wanting more in the hope that despite carrying off daring stunts at the age of 62 Cruise would return once more as Ethan Hunt.

The 36th MCU release and the last film of Phase Five is one of the best written and directed entries Marvel have produced in a while. Rather than relying on the over use of CGI and extravagant set pieces Thunderbolts actually takes it's time to get to know the characters and care about them as well as addressing issues such as depression, loss and trauma. In other words because these superheroes are flawed they are more three-dimensional.

Director Jake Schreier still provides the usual thrills, chases and fight sequences courtesy of some very good CGI, but there's a nice balance of light and dark tone throughout and he doesn't rush into things to grab the attention. It all feels much more organic and grounded than usual. All of the prinicipal characters are engaging especially David Harbour providing the much welcomed light relief.

British actress Florence Pugh shines the most here as Yelena Belova, reprising her role from Black Widow (2021). Having been traumatised by the loss of her sister in Avengers: Endgame (2019) she finds herself trapped alongside a group of not so super heroes in a disused laboratory where they find Bob, a timid person who doesn't realise he has been experimented on as part of the Sentry project that unscrupulous CIA director Valentina Fontaine wants destroyed to cover up her misconduct now the Avengers are no more.

After escaping the lab and finding hidden indestructable super powers when faced with a firing squad, Bob gets recaptured by Fontaine to reignite the Sentry project while the others make their escape. However Bob's troubled and destructive alter ego comes to the fore and he unleashes a dark power on New York City known as The Void. It's up to the other reluctant heroes to come together to rescue Bob, restore order and hold Fontaine to account.

It's a nice twist on the anti-hero and with a clever turn of events at the end this is one of the more satisfying movies Kevin Feige has produced for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.