ESCAPE PLAN: POSITIVE PLOTTING

There was a time when just the mention of the names Stallone and Schwarzenegger guaranteed mega-box office receipts. To hear one of them had a movie coming out in theaters was to insure long lines at the box-office. But as they've grown older and as the audience going to the theater has aged as well, it's not quite the same. There is still that small amount of buzz behind their names but not like the glory days. The new movie ESCAPE PLAN taps into those movies they once made. Watching it is like going back to the late 70s/early 80s. In truth they've aged well and remain at the top of their game.

Stallone plays Ray Breslin, a security expert who knows how to find the loopholes in any given situation. Currently he's part owner and the main man in a company that sends him into any prison unbeknownst to the warden and guards so that he can find the leaks in their system and escape. There has yet to be a prison he hasn't walked out of. The movie opens with him in prison and finding a way out, demonstrating his abilities.

Once his skills have been established we find Ray back in his office when a CIA agent shows offering top dollar for him to escape from a super secret prison that has just been built to house the worst of the worst. With only 24 hours to prepare, something he doesn't do, Ray's partner Lester (Vincent D'Onofrio) urges him to take the job and the $5 million paycheck. Against his better judgment he takes the job. The next day he finds himself in New Orleans, kidnapped and the tracker chip inserted into his arm removed. Something is amiss.

Ray wakes to find himself in a prison unlike any other. Rather than concrete cells each cell is made of extreme plexi-glass and surrounding a core stairwell. This is a prison unlike any he's ever experienced with guards rotating at odd hours and no way out that he can see. But when he gives the pass code that is supposed to insure his release, he is ignored. It seems that a double cross was done somewhere along the line and Ray is now an actual prisoner in an escape proof prison.

Discovering the day to day routine at the hands of head guard Drake (Vinnie Jones) who seems to enjoy inflicting pain and the warden of the prison Hobbs (Jim Caviezel), Ray sets about learning who is who in the prisoner hierarchy. He soon makes friends with Rottmayer (Schwarzenegger) but doesn't reveal who he is. After finding himself on the Hobbes short list, he agrees to a deal: help Hobbes find out the location of Rottmayer's partner on the outside and he'll be set free.

But Ray doesn't like being placed not only in a physical cell but a mental one as well. It may seem that he's helping the Hobbes get the information that he wants but in truth he continues doing what he does best, finding an escape from an inescapable prison. He pulls Rottmayer into his plan and the viewer is now caught up in a mix of possible crosses and double crosses as the action unfolds and the escape draws near. Will they get out or is this the one place that offers no hope of escape?

Stallone does a wonderful job in this movie. This is classic Stallone where he displays an intelligence in his character that lies beneath that tough exterior. We know that if there is a way out, he will find it. Schwarzenegger also brings back the old Arnie we know and love, the tough as nails fighter and loyal friend who will eventually come up with some catch phrase that will be his signature for this movie. These are the actors we loved back in the 80s doing what they do best, making unbelievable characters believable or at least making us like them so much we don't notice how unbelievable they are.

The movie is just a fun roller coaster ride of action combined with brains to make the whole outlandish concept seem real. We thrill to the ride as we plunge over hills and down valleys never knowing what's around the next bend. Through it all we have a great time and enjoy the ride not caring about the construction or safety of it all, just enjoying ourselves. That's what the old Sly and Arnold movies offered so long ago, just a good time watching the movie. It's nice to see that the two of them can still pull it off.

Click here to order.