Escape Plan

Roy Breslin, a guy who gets paid to break out of prisons to find fault in their design, is sent to a prison that is designed to be escape proof.

Sylvester Stallone – Breslin
Arnold Schwarzenegger – Rottmayer

Breslin (Stallone) is hired to break out of an unbreakable prison. While there he discovers that he was set up and no matter what he does he will never get out. He joins up with Rottmayer (Schwarzenegger) to try and find a way to escape.

Tormented by a vicious warden and faceless guards (see picture below), he quickly discovers that if he doesn’t find a way out he may not survive.

I had been looking forward to this for a while now and was not disappointed. Even though the movie was marketed as an action film, it really was more of a thriller with some action sequences.

Stallone and Schwarzenegger played great off each other. They had outstanding chemistry and were completely believable in their roles. There was even a few other actors in the film I didn’t know were there because they didn’t show them at all in the trailers. I’m not going to mention who they were, because it was a treat to see them pop up in the film. A nice surprise to see that some trailers don’t give the whole movie away.

This is actually the first movie I’ve seen from director Mikael HÃ¥fström. He did Derailed, 1408, and The Rite, all of which I heard were good but I never got around to watching them. I’ll have to put them on my short list now.

His directing was solid and he knew how to milk the tension out of his scenes. Also, hurray for action scenes without quick edits and shaky cam! With the brawls you could tell what was going on and with the gun fights you never got lost.

While The Expendables had Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in it, this was the first film in which the two co-starred together. They had discussed it many times over the years but their schedules never lined up.

Majorly impressed. While I fully expected to enjoy the film, it blew past my expectations. Not only was it a fantastic thriller but it had a smart script that kept you guessing. While yes, I did see a few things coming there were still plenty of surprises.

With a run time of almost 2 hours, you could never tell. The movie moved at such a brisk pace it didn’t feel like it was that long. I never once felt the need to check my watch.

Stallone and Schwarzenegger have been hitting it out of the park lately. Stallone with the Expendables series and Schwarzenegger with The Last Stand, these guys have brought back old school action in a big way. Now, with Escape Plan, they are showing that even though these guys are almost 70, they still are 2 of the best in the game. I really hope these guys make plenty more before they decide to retire.