Lockout

Very Stupid... Very Fun!
After all the negative reviews, I almost avoided this little gem altogether. I rented it, watched it, and enjoyed it so much I purchased it on blu ray and watched it again. For those looking for a light-hearted action flick that pays homage to classic 80's action films like "Escape From New York" and "Die Hard" while never taking itself too seriously- "Lockout" is incredibly entertaining.

Plot in a nutshell: covert government agent Snow is falsely accused of murder and sentenced to 30 years in a maximum security prison set in outer space where the prisoners spend their time in a cryogenically frozen sleep. Just before being shipped off to serve his time, the President of the United State's daughter (who conveniently happens to be doing humanitarian work at that same prison) is taken hostage by the inmates. Snow must go in and rescue the President's daughter before time runs out...

While there's little to nothing original about "Lockout," it is a very enjoyable...

B-Movie Fun: Leave Your Artistic Snootiness Behind
Lockout is the type of movie that you need to go into expecting nothing from, because the unexpected humor, zippy dialogue, rapid-fire action scenes, and cast of quirky characters is about as entertaining as it gets. Even my stodgy spouse enjoyed this movie and laughed aloud at times. There are some plot holes and a few maguffins that will leave you scratching your head and wondering why events happened and why characters acted the way they did, but who cares? Have some fun with this romp and let your hair down. It's an entertaining 1:50 of movie mayhem and fun.

This movie is part Escape From New York, part Die Hard, part Star Wars, and part Mad Max. It's a blast!

Pearce is fantastic. The rest...not so much.
Luc Besson has been behind some of the best action and sci-fi films of the past eighteen years; directing films such as Leon: The Professional and The Fifth Element and contributing to the writing process for films such as Kiss of the Dragon, The Transporter, Revolver, and From Paris With Love. Besson's films aren't always the smartest or the best written, but they don't have to be when they're usually so damn entertaining. On top of that, I'm a fairly huge Guy Pearce fan other than last month's Seeking Justice, which we'll just pretend doesn't exist for the sake of argument. So Lockout looked like it could be a hell of a lot of fun, but there was something I couldn't quite put my finger on that didn't seem quite right in the trailers and TV spots.

Accused of a crime he didn't commit, Snow (Guy Pearce) is about to be locked away for thirty years. The president's daughter Emilie Warnock (Maggie Grace) is sent to a prison in outer space to help psychologically diagnose the...

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