LOCK OUT
The U.S. government strong-arms a man accused of treason into rescuing the president's daughter from a maximum-security space prison that's been taken over by the inmates in a brutal riot. Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, and Peter Stormare star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Director: James Mather
Cast: Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, Vincent Regan, Joe Gilgun, Lennie James
Release Date: Apr 13, 2012
Rated PG-13 Language, Intense Sequences of Violence, Intense Sequences of Action and Some Sexual References
Runtime: 1 hr. 35 min.
Genres: Action/Adventure, Suspense/Thriller
Review:
There’s not an original note in Lock Out’s runtime. Every element is “borrowed” from somewhere else with the most obvious being John Carpenter’s Escape from New York. Director James Mather shoots his film with a choppy hand. Occasionally he’ll hit a fun note but it’s rarely sustained. His biggest failing is never getting much out of his actors. Guy Pearce, who I’ve always thought should have been a bigger star, does the best he can even if his dialogue comes off clunky from time to time. Maggie Grace is equally stiff and shares very little chemistry with Pearce. Peter Stormare mugs through a few scenes adding very little. Even with its obvious failings, Lock Out is extremely watch able as pulp sci-fi fun. The first 2 acts breeze easily with the film coming to a screeching halt in the final act which saps the film of any energy it had.
C-
