I’m not quite sure if The Escape Plan is meant to be any kind of comment on the correctional system, but it is certainly a comment on why I miss ’80s styled Action Flicks.
This action packed thriller is told in the spirit of movies like Escape from Alcatraz and Commando. The story follows Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone), the #1 contractor for Prison Security; He has a particularly special way of determining whether a prison is considered ‘Secure’ though. Breslin tests how secure a maximum security prison really is by implementing himself as an actual prisoner and escaping. This is all done without the knowledge of the prison personnel so to keep it nice and interesting.
The CIA enlists in Breslin’s special skills to test an “Off-The-Books” Ultra-Secure penitentiary especially designed for the world’s most ruthless criminals and is offered double his usual 2.5 million dollar fee. With just enough hesitation to make you wonder what’s to come, he agrees to the job and we move into the oddest Thirteen Ghosts style prison I’ve ever had the pleasure of 
critiquing. Dubbed by its inhabitants as ‘The Tomb,’ prisoners remain almost completely in solitaire inside glass cells. They are guarded by the fifth legion of Jabbawockeez led by the always angry Vinnie Jones. The unknowing and calamitous Warden Hobbes (Jim Caveizel) has a personal vendetta against Breslin for reasons we don’t know, but we quickly learn that this was all an elaborate trap when Breslin is stripped of his GPS tracking device thus leaving his security team without a way of extracting him in case anything goes wrong.
Although Stallone is beginning to look and sound his age, he really didn’t half ass this role. It really seemed like he was ready to move back into the action genre, and not the kind that parodies his early works. That definitely goes for Schwarzenegger as well who plays the fun loving Emil Rottmayer; another ruthless criminal inside who offers to assist Breslin in escaping if he takes him with him. Some may say the two action stars needed a rest in the middle where the film begins to drag a little, but how they wake themselves up for the impending explosions is a real treat.
Most of the supporting cast, although all top notch actors, fell to the way side for me due to not having enough time to develop their characters. Caviezel may have really played the maleficent part well, but beyond that, I cared little for him. Sam Neill seemed tired and uninterested in his role as the Prison Physician. Vincent D’Onofrio played Lester Clark, a part of Breslin’s security team, and although he had a twist to his character, they simply didn’t include him enough for my liking. I will say that Faran Tahir as the anointed Muslim terrorist, Javed, was a welcome deviation from his normal character. The least bearable character, Hush, was played by Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson. This is easily the most perplexing casting because Jackson plays the worrisome hacker liaison in Breslin’s security team, though, he barely does any actual hacking and really only serves to be the otherwise missing black guy in the film.
With all that said, this reviewer couldn’t help but hope that The Escape Plan could be the return of the Great ’80s Action Thriller and that is exactly why I give this movie 4 out of 5 Nerdskulls.
Check out the trailer below:
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For more info on comics, video games, movies and anything else nerd, check out Nerdlocker.com, a place for your inner nerd.
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YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/nerdlocker
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