Lock Out

Caught this late Friday night with my girl after the Drake gig and had a good night overall. After being on my feet for hours it was good to sit on my arse at twelve on the night and just switch off and enjoy a mindless bit of action. And that's exactly what 'Lockout' offers. If you've seen Luc Besson's Europacorp action flicks you know what to expect. I love all of them and this was no exception. Guy Pearce is the show stealer as Agent Snow, the John McClane of the space age. His wisecracks and mindless violence keep your attention. Maggie Grace is as good as ever as the damsel in distress and the supporting actors do a bang up job as well. Almost stealing the show from Pearce, but not quite, is Joseph Gilgun as the nutty Scot, sure to make you laugh once or twice, even if you're hating the film. The effects are well done, the action over-the-top and exciting and it's overall good late night entertainment. As with all these sorts of films, I'm sure critics and serious Sci-fi nuts are going to hate. But as I always say, for people who can switch off and enjoy a bit of brainless fun, this is a must. Let the haters hate and the watchers watch.

***/*****.

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 believe that the enjoyment of a movie is directly proportional among other to your beforehand expectations about it. So with that in mind, let me tell you about this movie; It has a completely unoriginal story, terrible special effects and acting that will never be considered, even in a slow movie year, Oscar wordy. In short it's an action / science fiction that should leave you empty.

Yet, it is not boring, quite the contrary. It has a very special 'Je ne sais quoi' to it. I so wanted to use that in a review for which I want to apologies to you.

I enjoyed it more than most films I have seen this year. Perplexed to explain what makes it unique without spoiling it for you and considering my first sentence, I will say after much reflection, seeing it with very low expectations would be the best. It will allow you from the start to get into the world the directors are painting for you, couple that with a possession of a twisted sense of humor and you will find a gem of a movie in there.

In short, for what it is, it is a gem.

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!

It's fair to say Luc Besson has gotten a bit giddy ever since "Taken." The man who once upon a time brought us "La Femme Nikita" and "Leon: The Professional" has instead taken to lighter action fare, in this case recruiting amateurs James Mather and Stephen St. Leger to help write and direct his "original idea." Exactly—not a "story by" credit, but "original idea."

That's not to say "Lockout" isn't creative, but it's definitely not original. Some might dub it "Taken in space," especially considering it borrows that film's starlet in Maggie Grace, but it's much more akin to "Escape from New York in space." Either way, "Lockout" is another simple- concept action film from Besson, only it has a bigger ego that gets in the way sometimes.

"Lockout" is good for kicks, a fact of which it's very aware. Guy Pearce's Snow, the morally questionable and reluctant hero written so closely to the archetype he almost transcends it, weirdly. He has a sense of humor best described as abundant (though sometimes quite clever), and Pearce plays him especially wry; most actors (think Nicolas Cage) would've hammed it up too much or been unconvincing.

Snow is tasked with rescuing the president's daughter (Grace), who is stuck on a maximum security prison in space that has incurred a major security breach. These are the world's most dangerous criminals, plus they have been in stasis for any number of years, which has made them even nuttier. Joseph Gilgun as Rydell, one of two Scottish prisoners trying to run the uprising, is a particularly deranged fellow reminiscent of a demented Groundskeeper Willie.

Both Rydell and the other main baddie, Alex (Vincent Regan), have a cold-blooded edge that could have made for an effective R-rated ransom thriller reminiscent of late '90s films like Air Force One, but the devil-may-care attitude of the entire movie ultimately clashes with these darker moments, even though they do make you take the movie more seriously than you would otherwise.

After a little bit of context at the beginning to properly motivate Snow, both he and us are effectively shot from a canon. The story only slows down a bit toward the end, but it mostly plays out as a series of dominoes. The action doesn't satisfy so much as the pace and the threat of violence (now here's a good example of how you do PG-13 violence), but it's well done aside from an opening motorcycle sequence shot on green screen and outfitted with an effects job that really shows the budget.

Aside from that, the futuristic sci-fi elements stay pretty classy—nothing overdone or distracting. The gadgets provide some creativity to a number of the sequences and the script manages to inject some unpredictability into a story that could not have a more obvious trajectory.

Despite the self-awareness at points, with a lot of that credit going to Pearce, Lockout tries especially hard to be entertaining on too many fronts, aspiring to be the consummate popcorn flick rather than just identifying one tone and sticking with it. The final scene on the space prison strangely evokes the original "Star Wars" Death Star run, as if to make sure the audience gets to munch on some sci fi/fantasy before the credits roll.

It's hard to fault "Lockout" for aiming to please considering that that spirit seems to be the driving force behind the movie's strengths as well as its weaknesses. Although the number of attempts at humor might catch some folks off guard, "Lockout" offers what anyone interested in the film would expect, if for no other reason than its built upon tons of tropes from previously effective movies. In turn, "Lockout" is effective, but not too much more.

~Steven C

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