Lockout

Heard of Lockout?


No?


Well it came out a couple weeks ago and hasn't gained much traction with audiences during that time. It stars Guy Pearce and Maggie Grace and actually has a really interesting premise going for it. The year is 2079 (or something like that) and there is now a space station, MS-1, that holds over 500 high-risk prisoners. The prisoners are in stasis, which means that they are basically asleep during their sentence. The President's daughter, Emilie, played by Maggie Grace, travels to MS-1 to conduct research and naturally, all of the prisoners escape and she is taken hostage. Insert Guy Pearce as Snow who is a wrongly-convicted CIA-operative and has a chance to clear his name by going on a solo-mission to rescue the President's daughter. I actually really liked the tone of the movie and the future that it presented. It was gritty, somewhat realistic, and not overly emo-dark. But good tone doesn't always make a good movie...


Good acting helps to make a good movie. And would you be surprised if I told you that Lockout actually has some really impressive acting in it? Guy Pearce has one-liner after one-liner and he delivers them about as cocky as a human being can be. It's very entertaining to watch. Maggie Grace, famous from a little show called LOST, also portrays her character with some bravado, and her and Pearce's early exchanges are pretty fun. And the entirety of the supporting cast is strong as well, despite the fact that they are all playing terribly cliched characters. The star of the show however is one of the prisoners. This guy is crazy, brutal, and downright insane. He has a thick Scottish accent and delivers his lines in a way that at times reminded me of Heath Ledger's Joker. Not to mention this guy literally has an itching to kill people so he basically kills every hostage for no reason. Like I said: brutal. Props have to go to Joseph Gilgun for doing such a good job with him.

Insane prisoner? Check fo sho

Psh...my biceps are bigger....kinda

Also impressive about Lockout is the special effects that they were able to produce for such a small budget. The movie had a $20 million budget (relatively small for movies) and I have to say that the CGI is very impressive in nearly every scene. There is a scene where Snow is riding a motorcycle that looked horrendous however. At one point I thought I was watching anime it looked so fake. But once the movie gets to space, the effects were nearly top-notch. 


By now you probably think that I loved Lockout. Well, not really. The film had a small window where it could have been something special, but it did not take advantage of it. It is an awfully cliched movie in nearly every sense other then its premise of a prison in space. As an action buff, I want action scenes that are memorable for the stunts or feats that are pulled off. Think of Wanted or the Mission Impossible franchise. Lockout has not a single memorable action moment and that is a big no-no in my book if you are going to consider yourself an action movie. On top of that, there are parts of the story that I didnt explain because honestly, the movie doesnt explain them either. Experimentation on inmates? Gets addressed for about one sentence and then that story line is concluded. Why even bring it up then? The underlying search for some briefcase? The "plot twist" at the end? Not necessary at all and one of the dumbest injections of a worthless story line I have seen in a while. 

Well, at least Maggie Grace is still smokin hot

Let me put it this way. If you want to see Lockout, go see it when it is a matinee or when it is at the dollar theater. It's one of those movies that I didn't mind paying $4 for, but if I had paid $11 for it, I would not have felt like I got my money's worth. It's an entertaining ride for a couple hours some afternoon, but in no way is it a movie that you will be talking about with your friends the next day. 


But hey, you win some and you lose some I guess. At least we got The Avengers coming in a week and a half.




Pros:

• Interesting premise of a prison in space and a reasonable prediction of the future
• The acting holds this movie up. Guy Pearce is smug and funny, Maggie Grace is gorgeous, and the psycho-Scottish prisoner is terrifying
• With the budget they had, they must have spent 99% of it on CG and effects and it shows. Impressive visuals for all scenes but one

Cons:

• Cliche! CLICHE! C.L.I.C.H.E!
• Commits the #1 Rath Felony of an action movie: no memorable action. If I dont want to boyishly re-enact any scenes after I see an action movie, you know you have failed to impress me
• Subplots are terrible. Especially the whole briefcase conspiracy story that "drives" the movie. Worthless
• The one scene that had terrible CGI is the worst CGI scene I have seen in the past decade, sincerely. Weird that a movie can have really impressive visuals and then something like that...

Rath's Review Score: 5/10