GETAWAY DVD (2013)

SYNOPSIS: The clock is ticking as former race car driver Brent Magna (Ethan Hawke) barrels around the streets of Bulgaria to save his abducted wife. Inside a commandeered Ford Shelby GT500 Super Snake, a desperate Brent obeys the anonymous voice coming through the speaker as it sets him and his unwitting passenger Selena Gomez) on a series of increasingly dangerous tasks. If they fail, Brent's wife will die. With every cop in the city in hot pursuit, the two strangers must find a way to flee or fight back against their faceless assailant in this breakneck, heart-pounding race against time.

MOVIE REVIEW:

We always love Ethan Hawke for his constant measured performances on the big screen. We even love cutesy looking former Disney starlet Selena Gomez. This is why we tell ourselves we are not going to miss the duo’s latest movie, Getaway despite being touted as one of the worst flicks of 2013.   

Canadian director Courtney Solomon who single-handedly killed the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy tale back in 2000 helmed this silly Fast & Furious wannabe B-movie. The plot-holes riddled movie has Hawke playing an ex racecar driver Brent who must obeyed The Voice (not to be confused with the talent show) in a wired Shelby Mustang in order to save his kidnapped wife. Together with his partner, the kid (Gomez) who happened to be the rich owner of the Mustang, the two must complete the tasks given by The Voice before time runs out for both of them.

Where is Justin Lin when you need him? Getaway is an 80 minutes of nonstop car chases, one after another on the busy streets of Bulgaria. It sounds too good to be true for an action junkie unfortunately the director behind the camera is not Lin. Solomon interlaced the entire experience with cheap POV shots, incoherent editing and awkward camera angles that in the end it never delivers any real thrills or suspense. 

The motive of the villain is never properly explained. The reason why Brent is chosen for the job is lame. And we are supposed to believe an iPad can perform wonder in a trapped car. Hawke of course can act but I rather see him in The Purge 2, Sinister 2 or something that doesn’t require him to scream his head off behind the wheels. We understand Gomez wishes to expand her resume; an irritating sidekick simply isn’t an ideal one. Jon Voight fares the worst as he spends his time sipping coffee, typing on his Macbook, and speaking in a wavering European accent for a paycheck.  

We are not impressed when the director mentioned he crashed over 130 cars during the filming process. That includes the fact that all the car stunts are executed real not CGI. Getaway has no doubt wasted the efforts of everyone involved. It will be a nice dumb fun flick if it is not ineptly directed.   

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Instead of having five separate featurettes: Crash Cams, Destroying a Custom Shelby, Metal and Asphalt, Selena Gomez: On Set
 and The Train Station, why don’t they just lump them into one?

Each segment runs embarrassingly at one minute or less and they basically showcase interviews with Ethan Hawke, Selena Gomez, director Courtney Solomon and cinematographer Yaron Levy with some B-roll footages thrown in.   

AUDIO/VISUAL:

While the movie and visual remains questionable with the latter filled with intended grittiness, the audio roars deeply with loud bass and noisy car effects.    

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee