Lockout (2012)

Lockout: Directed by James Mather, Steve Saint Leger. With Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, Vincent Regan, Joe Gilgun. A man wrongly convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage against the U.S. is offered his freedom if he can rescue the president’s daughter from an outer space prison taken over by violent inmates.

“Itu0026#39;s fair to say Luc Besson has gotten a bit giddy ever since u0026quot;Taken.u0026quot; The man who once upon a time brought us u0026quot;La Femme Nikitau0026quot; and u0026quot;Leon: The Professionalu0026quot; has instead taken to lighter action fare, in this case recruiting amateurs James Mather and Stephen St. Leger to help write and direct his u0026quot;original idea.u0026quot; Exactly—not a u0026quot;story byu0026quot; credit, but u0026quot;original idea.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThatu0026#39;s not to say u0026quot;Lockoutu0026quot; isnu0026#39;t creative, but itu0026#39;s definitely not original. Some might dub it u0026quot;Taken in space,u0026quot; especially considering it borrows that filmu0026#39;s starlet in Maggie Grace, but itu0026#39;s much more akin to u0026quot;Escape from New York in space.u0026quot; Either way, u0026quot;Lockoutu0026quot; is another simple- concept action film from Besson, only it has a bigger ego that gets in the way sometimes.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Lockoutu0026quot; is good for kicks, a fact of which itu0026#39;s very aware. Guy Pearceu0026#39;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) wouldu0026#39;ve hammed it up too much or been unconvincing.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSnow is tasked with rescuing the presidentu0026#39;s daughter (Grace), who is stuck on a maximum security prison in space that has incurred a major security breach. These are the worldu0026#39;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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBoth 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 u0026#39;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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAfter 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 doesnu0026#39;t satisfy so much as the pace and the threat of violence (now hereu0026#39;s a good example of how you do PG-13 violence), but itu0026#39;s well done aside from an opening motorcycle sequence shot on green screen and outfitted with an effects job that really shows the budget.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAside 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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDespite 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 u0026quot;Star Warsu0026quot; Death Star run, as if to make sure the audience gets to munch on some sci fi/fantasy before the credits roll.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s hard to fault u0026quot;Lockoutu0026quot; for aiming to please considering that that spirit seems to be the driving force behind the movieu0026#39;s strengths as well as its weaknesses. Although the number of attempts at humor might catch some folks off guard, u0026quot;Lockoutu0026quot; 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, u0026quot;Lockoutu0026quot; is effective, but not too much more.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e~Steven Cu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThanks for reading! Check out moviemusereviews.com”