Escape Plan - Old school action

It’s been amazing that these two – Sly and Arnie – have never got together on screen before (excluding the cameos in The Expendables movies), as they do work rather well together.

It focuses on the two men’s attempts to escape a futuristic prison which has been custom- built to prevent escapes. Guess what… it’s about to be put to its limits. So, baring in mind that the story takes place in a prison, there’s plenty of faceless thugs for our two action heroes to pound, plus a villainous warden and his henchman Vinnie Jones to sort out along the way.

This is Sly’s movie, so he does get more screen time and people to punch than Arnie, so Arnie fans may feel just a little short-changed. However, seeing as the two actors have known each other for many years, there’s a natural rapport between them which shines out. Arnie’s acting (yes, acting!) seems to have suffered since being in politics, seeming a bit stilted in The Last Stand and The Expendables, but he seems to be regaining his old late eighties/early nineties charm.

If you like either or both the aging escape-artists, you should enjoy this film, even if it’s just to watch them on screen (properly) for the first time. There’s your typical amount of action and mayhem as they figure out how to break out. My only gripe was that it was a little longer than I expected, clocking in at nearly two hours. Shave about 10-15 minutes off the runtime and you’d have a much tighter movie.

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one