Escape Plan - Rocky and Terminator come together!

Do you need any more incentive to get into a theater other than the fact that Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger are in it together. Well, if you have seen Expendables 2, then you might be a bit apprehensive because you know that such star-stuffed spectacles can be a bit of a drag after the initial excitement wears out. And, these two men are past their sell-by date, working hard to push the limits. So, can it work, at least 20 years past their prime?

It is a highly imaginative and improbable plot; that is expected in such a movie. Syl is Ray Breslin, a

man with the most bizarre of job descriptions – he checks the quality of prisons. We are given a glimpse of his expertise in the beginning, a low-key affair, no big action, but a look at his tactical acumen in breaking out of prisons. Then comes the real deal, the toughest assignment that he has been offered as yet. This time his clients want to dictate terms. His gut tells him something’s wrong, but the challenge tempts him.

As the trailers would have told you, ‘the most secure prison ever built’, and the man is bang in the middle of it, the middle of nowhere. He wants to get out, but its not as easy as it looks. He needs an ally, and guess who he finds on the ship – ‘he’s back’.

First, the good thing about Escape Plan is that it does not get carried away by the casting coup it has managed. The focus is definitely on the plot and not on the stars. You realize that around 30 minutes into the movie and heave a sigh of relief that the same mistakes of the Expendables are not being repeated. They work to a definite plan, and though you know who’s going to win in the end, you are not quite sure how. And, a big surprise awaits you around the mid point, concerning the location of the prison, and no one will see it coming. In hindsight, it does look a bit too implausible, but we can overlook that. The plan is not ingenuous, but it is not plain dumb action either. All said and done, a bit more of effort in the script could have made this a much more enjoyable experience.

Talking about the leading men, Sylvester and Arnold. Well, time has had its effects on them. They

definitely have slowed down, Arnold more so. But, they still have the attitude that made them global stars in the 80s, and you can sit back and enjoy when they turn it on once in a while. They work well together, match each other. They share the screen a lot of the time and have done well to cover their stardom and get into the characters

It is definitely more Sylvester’s movie than Arnold’s, but the Terminator does have a couple of scenes reserved at the end; if you are a fan, you will definitely enjoy it when he picks up the machine gun, and there is also a wicked ‘say cheese’ moment, Arnold really rocks in that moment. Sylvester doesn’t have that tailor-made moments for himself, but he is the main protagonist and brain, and he sure doesn’t look 66. As it is said in Rocky Balboa, ‘the last thing to leave a man is his punch’.

Escape Plan does try to overawe you with the immense nature of its setting, but sorry, we have seen bigger things and it does not quite have that effect on us. There’s nothing much to say here, just that, you don’t have to be afraid that this is just another version of the Expendables. This is not all hollow shooting and punching, it has got some stuff, although not a whole lot of it. If you are a fan of Rocky or Terminator, you will walk away with a smile. Yes, the script could have done with a bit more work, but no use complaining now.

And, in the theater, at the end of the movie, someone suggested that this is the cheesy version o

f Shawshank Redemption. No way, Shawshank Redemption is one of the greatest jailbreak movies ever made, Escape Plan is not even in that league, a comparison is sacrilege. This is just a happy Saturday outing for all fans who don’t mind seeing the old men flexing their muscles once again.  One is just left wondering, that if this duo can be fun even 66 and 67, what it would have been like if they had come together in their pomp.