Escape Plan

***
UK Release Date: October 18th 2013

When a structural-security authority finds himself set up and incarcerated in the world's most secret and secure prison, he has to use his skills to escape with help from the inside.

Director: Mikael Hafstrom (The Rite, Shanghai, 1408)

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Caviezel, Sam Neill, Vinnie Jones, Curtis Jackson

Escape Plan will go down in history. Not because of its story, but because it brings together two of our favourite action heroes of the 80's. The two were always compared, for whatever reason. Sly Stallone brought us Rocky and Rambo and Arnie Terminator and Predator. There has only ever been teasers recently in The Expendables films, but with the release of Escape Plan the action junkie in us has something to be excited about.

Taking a step further in audaciousness than Prison Break, Escape Plan follows prison escapee expert Ray Breslin (Stallone). He's asked by the CIA to crack a high-tech, off-the-record prison. Always up for a challenge, Breslin accepts, but soon learns he's been double crossed.

This time there's no help from the outside. The only help he receives comes from an unlikely likeable convict named Rottmayer (Schwarzenegger). The two have completely opposite characteristics. Stallone's Breslin is written as a brooding hulk with little motive other than to find the person behind his imprisonment. Rottmayer, on the other hand, is a joy to watch, and one of Schwarzenegger's more abundantly eccentric characters. Pretending to go crazy and shouting his native tongue as a distraction is humorous when it probably shouldn't be.

The first half of the script is on par with Arnie's acting, but after a mid-section shocker, this mild action/drama turns full scale action, losing credibility on the way. Arnie and Stallone go from the pen to a double-edged sword. How did two thinkers turn in to gun specialists? It has taken a false turn and these characters (mainly Breslin) have become unbelievable.

Casting that aside, Escape Plan has some real guts. The prison at all glances seems impregnable and there are some smart escape moves used at the start. The support cast find territories to mark, and Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson, who has a small role, get the chance of being taken seriously.