by Jade Lindley
Have you ever been so excited for a film that just thinking about it makes you emotional every time the film title is mentioned? And no matter how many times you watch the trailer, it just isn’t enough? For months and months, you had been looking forward to this film, and with every day that came closer to the release date you thought you could taste the awesomeness…and then out of nowhere it was taken away from you. The cinematic release was taken away from you, with no real reasoning of why. You then curl up in a ball in your bed, lay in the covers and cry. That is how much you wanted to see this film, this is how much emotion you invested into something you had been waiting for your whole life.
Does this sound familiar?
Have you ever been so excited for a film that just thinking about it makes you emotional every time the film title is mentioned? And no matter how many times you watch the trailer, it just isn’t enough? For months and months, you had been looking forward to this film, and with every day that came closer to the release date you thought you could taste the awesomeness…and then out of nowhere it was taken away from you. The cinematic release was taken away from you, with no real reasoning of why. You then curl up in a ball in your bed, lay in the covers and cry. That is how much you wanted to see this film, this is how much emotion you invested into something you had been waiting for your whole life.
Does this sound familiar?
It does for me. The 28th of November was supposed to be a special day for me. Sure it was the day I was to turn 26 years old, but that wasn’t what I was looking forward to. I was looking forward to seeing Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger together in one film and in co-headlining roles. That fact alone should make your ears prick up. How long had action movie buffs been waiting for that moment? For years it was something we were thinking about, and it always has stayed in the back of people’s minds, so it’s a bit of a big deal. But an Australian distributor named Hopscotch didn’t see it that way. Apparently action movies have no place on the big screen for this distributor, but the new Justin Bieber documentary did. I think that should scream volumes. With some running around last minute, a screening was able to be organised here in Perth, and what a cinematic experience it was.
Here we have Ray Breslin played by Stallone, and his job is to go inside maximum security prisons and seeing if they impossible to escape. Breslin is then given a new assignment and a new alias and right away Breslin believes he has been set up. He then makes friends with Emil Rottmayer player by Schwarzenegger, and he is the man to go to when you want a favour. And soon all their antics together bring them closer to the truth of why they are in this prison and how they can get out alive.
While the premise does sound very simple, it’s awesome that this has depth to it. You may be thinking how can two of the greatest action stars who are just known for blowing shit up and beating the crap out of people have depth; well here’s why! Sure you are going to expect and receive violence with this film, but a lot of this film is intense, it puts you on the edge of your seat. When watching this and getting very involved in the narrative you can’t but hold your breath sometimes, but when that relieved sigh comes through, it just adds that extra layer of meat to the film. Escape Plan isn’t just another action film with mindless violence and cheesy one liners. This film offers so much more, it gives you something you wouldn't expect from a Stallone and Arnie film. You may think having two big action heroes co-headlining a film would be disastrous because while they have a lot of the same traits, their overall ‘cause’ or goals in their films are very different; but they bounce off each other perfectly. They both share the screen time equally, so this isn’t a film that tries to get our stars to compete against each other in terms of their skills, they work together, and it flows naturally.
Here we have Ray Breslin played by Stallone, and his job is to go inside maximum security prisons and seeing if they impossible to escape. Breslin is then given a new assignment and a new alias and right away Breslin believes he has been set up. He then makes friends with Emil Rottmayer player by Schwarzenegger, and he is the man to go to when you want a favour. And soon all their antics together bring them closer to the truth of why they are in this prison and how they can get out alive.
While the premise does sound very simple, it’s awesome that this has depth to it. You may be thinking how can two of the greatest action stars who are just known for blowing shit up and beating the crap out of people have depth; well here’s why! Sure you are going to expect and receive violence with this film, but a lot of this film is intense, it puts you on the edge of your seat. When watching this and getting very involved in the narrative you can’t but hold your breath sometimes, but when that relieved sigh comes through, it just adds that extra layer of meat to the film. Escape Plan isn’t just another action film with mindless violence and cheesy one liners. This film offers so much more, it gives you something you wouldn't expect from a Stallone and Arnie film. You may think having two big action heroes co-headlining a film would be disastrous because while they have a lot of the same traits, their overall ‘cause’ or goals in their films are very different; but they bounce off each other perfectly. They both share the screen time equally, so this isn’t a film that tries to get our stars to compete against each other in terms of their skills, they work together, and it flows naturally.
While the action and violence was not as full on as say Commando or Rambo, the violence is still relevant to the plot, it isn’t just senseless and it isn’t a blood bath; although even if it was, action buffs wouldn’t have been complaining. The violence you do see though is very well orchestrated and there isn’t anything too fancy, it’s just grown men punching the crap out of each other, brawling, and some guns thrown in for good measure; it really does have everything. One of the main themes in Escape Plan is friendship. It’s unbelievable how a friendship can develop under extremely bad circumstances. Breslin really doesn’t want to make friends, he wants that known, but Rottmayer makes it clear he is willing to help him and work out what this guy is about. And while their friendship is a little hostile at times, they do come together and are very loyal to one another. It’s very cool seeing these two actors together in a film because they were constantly competing against each other for all the hottest action roles in the 80s and 90’s, and to see them as pals in a film is something that only an action buff could dream about.
Arnie was an absolute joy to watch in this film. He was definitely the comedy relief in this and it was great to see how he paid homage to his former roles in certain scenes. He definitely proves to the audience that he is back, and better than ever. You can’t help but love his character in Escape Plan because he is just so much fun, and his personality just comes through the screen and slaps you upside the head and makes you remember why you loved Arnie in the first place! And then there is Stallone…he is definitely the more badass of the two in this film. He definitely doesn’t like to play by anyone else's rules, just a pure renegade in his whole approach to everything. He is more of the brooding of the two actors in Escape Plan, however he does have his one liners too which are funny but are said with a more serious tone that Stallone is known for in his earlier films. Having the duality of personalities in these two roles isn’t off putting or messy, it’s just perfection. Stallone still proves that he has depth in his eyes, and that is evident when you see his character of Breslin just observing and taking everything in and knowing that he definitely has a lot going on in his mind. Escape Plan really showed off Stallone’s acting chops and proves once again he has got something about him that a lot of actors just don’t have.
Arnie was an absolute joy to watch in this film. He was definitely the comedy relief in this and it was great to see how he paid homage to his former roles in certain scenes. He definitely proves to the audience that he is back, and better than ever. You can’t help but love his character in Escape Plan because he is just so much fun, and his personality just comes through the screen and slaps you upside the head and makes you remember why you loved Arnie in the first place! And then there is Stallone…he is definitely the more badass of the two in this film. He definitely doesn’t like to play by anyone else's rules, just a pure renegade in his whole approach to everything. He is more of the brooding of the two actors in Escape Plan, however he does have his one liners too which are funny but are said with a more serious tone that Stallone is known for in his earlier films. Having the duality of personalities in these two roles isn’t off putting or messy, it’s just perfection. Stallone still proves that he has depth in his eyes, and that is evident when you see his character of Breslin just observing and taking everything in and knowing that he definitely has a lot going on in his mind. Escape Plan really showed off Stallone’s acting chops and proves once again he has got something about him that a lot of actors just don’t have.
You may be reading this and thinking this is the most positive review on Escape Plan that has been written, and you know what you may be right. But the journey to get this film to the big screen was a tough one, and because of that, it made me appreciate the film way more. And if this fiasco didn’t happen, I wouldn’t have met some other action buffs like myself who were fighting for the same cause. Action is a credible genre, and it is something I will constantly fight for and defend til the day I die; and I am not ashamed to admit that. Some of you may read this and feel that I take my action movies way too seriously, and that I am reading way too much into this film; but the truth is I am just passionate and I know what I love, and I loved Escape Plan. This film shouldn’t be put down because people would rather troll the internet and make up their own mind about the film without even watching it. If you have a narrow mind, you will never understand how action works, and you will never appreciate it.
Escape Plan is my favourite film of 2013, it had everything in it that I love about film, and most importantly the overall viewing experience made me emotional. It made me feel; seeing it on the big screen did more for me than what it could if I watched it on a small computer screen. If you want a very well constructed film, with solid acting, action, violence and hilarious moments, do not go past Escape Plan; it is definitely the unsung hero of 2013.
Escape Plan is my favourite film of 2013, it had everything in it that I love about film, and most importantly the overall viewing experience made me emotional. It made me feel; seeing it on the big screen did more for me than what it could if I watched it on a small computer screen. If you want a very well constructed film, with solid acting, action, violence and hilarious moments, do not go past Escape Plan; it is definitely the unsung hero of 2013.
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