Lockout

There are many mysteries in Hollywood, one of them is why isn’t Guy Pearce one of the biggest movie stars in the world? He has flirted with the A list in movies like L.A. Confidential but the real classics like The Proposition and Memento have come out of leftfield as has Lockout.

Captured by the secret service and wrongly accused of treason, Snow (Guy Pearce) is convicted without a trial. Meanwhile liberal do-gooder President’s daughter Emilie (Maggie Grace) is taken hostage while visiting a prison orbiting in space. Snow is sent in to rescue her, what follows is basically Die Hard meets Escape from New York, in space.

The CGI effects in the early scenes are cheep and really bad, but the action in the rest of the movie is good without the use of shaky cameras, ultra close-ups and over editing that has become the norm. The real success of the movie is the Snow, or more precisely Pearce playing him. Wisecracking and kicking ass like John McClane and Snake Plissken Peace absolutely relishes the role. To help things even further Peace has genuine chemistry with the surprisingly good Maggie Grace. We actually care about these underwritten and undeveloped characters. Of the supporting cast, the most notable performance comes from Joseph Gilgun who you may recognise from This Is England and his TV work.

Based on an “original idea” by Luc Besson (I’m not sure there is an original idea in the whole movie). I have kind of mixed feelings about Besson, I like most of the movies he has directed and really love a couple of them, but the conveyor belt of his original ideas is a mixed bag ranging form great to utter shit. I am pleased to report this is one of the better ones. Ultimately the movie is irrelevant, disposable and unoriginal fluff but is also fun, funny, exciting and immensely watchable. Helmed by first time feature directors James Mather, Stephen St. Leger, without Besson’s name attached it would have found its way to DVD without troubling the inside of a cinema/theatre, this would have been a shame. Not wanting to outstay its welcome it clocks in at 95 minutes, this is about right.

There is enough going on to turn this into a low budget franchise with two or three sequels, this would probably be a mistake. Left on its own it will age well (other than the effects) and be remembered as a B movie classic. It isn’t a great film this doesn’t stop it being enjoyable, and that’s why I love it.

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