291, Escape Plan

Those who have read this blog from Day 1 will know my love of 80's Action heroes.  Stallone, Arnie and the like and with Expendables 1 & 2, my childhood memories of huge explosions & 1 man armies was easily realised which meant that although being on a smaller scale - two of my all time favourite action stars teaming up for an intelligent 'prison break' styled movie was one I couldn't wait to see.

Sly plays Ray Breslin - the leading authority on private security and the type of guy who gets locked up (under cover) in some of the worlds toughest prisons, just to break out of them.

Breslin is seduced by the thought of topping his career by breaking out of the worlds toughest prison - location unknown, no safe words - a real lock down, but it soon becomes apparent that this ruse to get Breslin locked down is a set up and with no way out he has no choice but to defeat the most secure facility on earth - along with its own private army of guards.

Whilst inside he teams up with another aged but respected inmate (Arnie) who he manages to bring on-side with a promise of freedom if he helps Breslin crack the security protocols.  The guards (which include Vinnie Jones) are led by softly spoken Hobbes (Jim Caviezel) who although controlled and well mannered, shows an almost sadistic nature in his hold over the inmates and rules his prison with an iron fist.

The movie does plod along quite nicely and as with the Expendables - there are plenty of old age pranks between them both and a far more realistic and less 'gun-ho' approach to battle than their previous solo lone wolf outings. 

Caviezel is a new favourite of mine after the watching him in the brilliant TV show - Person of Interest and he is the perfect choice for this role however Vinnie Jones as the right hand 'hard-man' did seem to lower the tone ever so slightly - sorry Vinnie! 

On the flips side however - Sly's own team on the outside consist of Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson - who is actually entirely watchable and very impressive as the I.T brains of the business Breslin runs.  A far cry from the expected 'Gangsta' persona and one he'd do well to reprise if given the chance.

The plot is cleverly thought out and delivered smoothly - the thought behind the prison itself, once identified is a brilliantly perceived the escape plan itself - helped by a secret Arnie is hiding throughout the movie, only realised right at the end is a welcomed unexpected twist.

If you love your action heroes then it doesn't come bigger than these two but there's as much clever escapology and logic as there is fisticuffs and that makes for a believable and realistic movie that should go down well with fans of the overpowering twosome.