I always like to go back to past reviews and remind people that these movies exist and are fantastic. Also these re-reviews often coincide with the release of the Blu-Ray or DVD of said movie so people have an opportunity to go and see this if they missed it in theaters. I have made my love of science fiction movies well known since the beginning of Another Plot Device. I will watch them all, good or bad, and revel in the physics, action, insight, exploration or pure sci-fi cheese. I love it all! So Lockout pretty much hit all the buttons for me in terms of action, science fiction tropes, anti-hero, and bad movie physics. It has got it all and it reminds me of one of the my favorite movies, Escape From New York, just set it space.
The comparison to Escape From New York to Lockout is pretty damn accurate. I mean instead of the president being taken hostage, it’s the president’s daughter. The maximum security prison is no longer New York, but a space station. Snake is replaced with an equally smarmy Guy Pierce. And I could go on, but I don’t want to spoil both movies in case you are feeling frisky and want to watch both. I particularly enjoy Lockout for what it was, a rambunctious film that continuously hammers home smart, witty comments with strong action sequences from a charismatic lead. The story and direction is not that great, actually leaving feel that the movie is vastly incomplete and lacking a very cohesive direction from the two directors.
If you can overlook the shortcomings in the story and directing, which considering you are watching a movie about a space station full of prisoners taking the presidents daughter hostage and space battles, you will find a lovely little throwback to those template action films of the 80s and early 90s. Guy Pierce does a bang up job with his Snake like role and manages to be both charming and punchable.
I have attached a link to my previous review, which can read and dissect at length, but for a good time, Lockout can do no wrong.
Listen, if you are going into this film expecting something other than a space shoot-em-up, then you will be disappointed. If you are going in for a good time, funny one liners and passable action scenes, then Lockout is your kind of movie. The action is frantic, the story is short, and the characters are about as animated as they come. Pearce steals the show hands down with his smug self. Offensive, irreverent, witty, sardonic and a bit of an oaf, his rouge like ways will keep you engaged and entertained throughout the 110 minute run time. Just remember, in Hollywood Space, there are no physics. “Oxygen-fed Guns” be damned! Read more here
*image via RottenTomatoes