LOCKOUT DVD (2012)

SYNOPSIS: MS One is an experimental prison in space where the 500 most dangerous criminals on planet Earth are kept in an artificial sleep. Leading a humanitarian misson, the daughter of the US president, Emilie Warnock arrives on board the station just as an unprecedentedly violent mutiny breaks out. Emilie and the crew of MS One are taken hostage by the inmates. President Warnock decides to send Agent Snow to MS One with the sole mission of saving Emilie and nobody else...

MOVIE REVIEW:

Watching a Europa production is like having fast food. You don’t get all the nutrients but at least you get to fill your stomach. Following “Colombiana” and “From Paris With Love”, The Luc Besson’s outfit once again churned out another digestible gun-toting, action flick though the location is set in a futuristic New York this time round.

In a plotting that doesn’t require much brain racking, Guy Pearce portrays Snow, a secret agent who has been accused of murdering his fellow colleague. But before he is being sent to prison, he is tasked to rescue the President’s daughter, Emilie (Maggie Grace from “Taken”) out of a maximum prison facility in space called MS One. The most dangerous criminals and psychopaths are let loose by an escapee and the only person Emilie can rely on before she is taken hostage is none other than Snow.

Ignoring an awful CGI motorcycle chase in the beginning of the movie, “Lockout” as expected is one chase following another with breakneck pacing. In fact, there’s very little action to speak of, most of the time it’s just Snow and Emilie running from one location of the ship to another with some very crazy inmates chasing after them. The two directors, James Mather and Stephen St Leger who co-wrote the script with Besson borrows too much from other superior sci-fi movies and the trio’s imagination seems to confine to scribing some rather funny, witty one-liners for the character of Snow to deliver.

You can always count on Australian actor Guy Pearce who shot to stardom in Christopher Nolan’s “Momento” to deliver the goods even though the rest of the movie sucks. Pearce is more than adept in channeling his version of John McClane. He is tough, wisecracking and he gets to rescue the President’s little princess. “Taken” star Maggie Grace seems to be in a déjà vu situation, remember she did hid under a bed in the movie but ended up as a captive and yes she gets to hide under a computer console here and not revealing anything further you know what happen to her in the end. The little known English actor Joseph Gilgun is scary as a psychotic criminal, Hydell and he nails it perfectly.

Shot in Eastern Europe and on a shoestring budget, “Lockout” is yet another silly caper from the mind of Luc Besson. If you need to order takeout on a boring Saturday night, this movie is the perfect complement.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The DVD transfer is decent on the whole for a picture that took place mostly in darkened places though the 2.0 soundtrack is a bit letdown when it comes to handling gunshots and explosions.  

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee