Lockout (2012)

From the mind that brought you The Fifth Element, Leon: The Professional, and The Transporter comes another big action film with car crashes, explosions, plenty of gun play and enough fist to cuffs violence to satisfy even the most picky of appetites. So what separates Lockout from the rest of Luc Besson's films? Lockout takes espionage, insane prisoners, witty comebacks and Guy Pearce, and smashes them all together into a maximum security space prison that is hurtling towards Earth - and makes it look good.

The Premise

Snow is an ex-CIA operative accused of treason against the United States in this futuristic action movie. The only way he can guarantee his freedom is to rescue the President's daughter who has been taken hostage aboard a maximum security prison that is floating in outer space.

My Take

Ex-CIA operative Agent Snow has been set up to take the fall for the murder of another undercover operative. Meanwhile, the President's daughter, Emilie, is on board the MS-One that is orbiting around Earth. The MS-One is a maximum security prison for the worst of violent offenders, however Emilie is there on a humanitarian mission. She wants to be sure the prisoners are being treated fairly. While Snow is being incarcerated on Earth, Emilie is being taken hostage during a savage prison uprising in space. When news of the takeover reaches Earth, Snow is offered a "Get Out of Jail Free" card if he will save Emilie. Of course, things aren't always as they seem. Snow has his own agenda once he is in orbit. One of the items on his agenda is locating his ex-partner, Mace, in an effort to clear his name.

Guy Pearce always has been and always will be one of my favorite actors. I never miss an opportunity to watch him in Memento. Pearce plays the snarky, yet somehow charming, Snow that has more interest in finding his ex-partner, Mace, than he does in saving the President's daughter. Emilie, played by Maggie Grace, is the aforementioned President's daughter. Grace begins the movie with a quiet strength reserved for women in power and ends with the appropriate toughness allowed after the ordeal that her character goes through. I enjoyed Maggie Grace's character grow. I've seen too many movies where writers start to write a strong female lead and halfway through, something happens and she ends up forgetting how to do everything for herself. Not to sound to women's lib-y or anything, but there you go.

Alex and Hydell are our two resident bad guys on board the MS-One. Alex is smart and calculating. His brother, Hydell, is just pretty nuts. Vincent Regan, from 300 fame, plays Alex with a cool calm that makes you wonder what he did to land himself in maximum security prison. Then he goes and kills someone without blinking an eye and the mystery is solved. Joseph Gilgun, whom I remember from This is England, plays Hydell, who is quite the opposite from his brother. He acts on impulse and is hard for Alex to trust. Mace, Snow's soft-spoken ex-partner, is also on board. Tim Plester's sympathetic portrayal of Mace, who has made it there quite by accident, goes to show you that you don't have to have a large part to make a memorable impact in a movie.

The Verdict

True, the movie was a bit predictable, but if it had gone any other way I would have been disappointed. I felt that the special effects were a bit lacking on the Earth sequences but looked great in the space sequences. For example, the car crashes were weak, but the space explosions were strong. Overall, it was a good way to spend some time on a rainy afternoon. I give Lockout 7/10 prisoners, just don't shank me.