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Dr. Lecter
You must have big rats
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 4:28 pm Posts: 92093 Location: Bonn, Germany
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Lockout
LockoutQuote: Lockout (also known as MS One: Maximum Security) is a 2012 French science fiction action film directed by James Mather and Stephen St. Leger, and written by Mather, Leger, and Luc Besson. The film stars Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, Vincent Regan, Joseph Gilgun, Lennie James, and Peter Stormare. Lockout follows Snow (Pearce), a man framed for a crime he did not commit, who is offered his freedom in exchange for rescuing the President's daughter Emilie (Grace) from the orbital prison MS:One, which has been overtaken by its inmates, led by Alex (Regan) and the psychotic Hydell (Gilgun).
Principal photography took place in Belgrade, Serbia. It was released on April 13, 2012 in North America, to a negative critical reception.
_________________The greatest thing on earth is to love and to be loved in return!
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Mon Apr 09, 2012 1:19 pm |
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Dr. Lecter
You must have big rats
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 4:28 pm Posts: 92093 Location: Bonn, Germany
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DQuote: The remake for the 1981 John Carpenter cult classic Escape from New York has been touted for a long time already, but never came into fruition. Actors like Gerard Butler and Jeremy Renner have been attached tom play the iconic role of Snake Plissken that made Kurt Russell famous. With the future of the remake unknown (I say leave it alone!), the prolific French writer/producer Luc Besson just went ahead and produced a complete rip-off of that film – Lockout. Set in 2079 the film follows the betrayed and wrongfully convicted US government agent Snow (Guy Pearce) who is awaiting the execution of his sentence – that is to be sent into the safest prison in the world – MS One. Max One orbits the Earth in outer space and its inmates are put into some sort of a cryogenic sleep for the duration of their sentences, thus preventing any violence and saving space. When the president’s daughter, Emilie Warnock (Maggie Grace), ventures to Max One on a humanitarian mission to investigate rumors about prisoners being used as lab rats, all hell breaks loose. Due to a stupid mistake by her bodyguard, one of the convicts (Joseph Gilgun speaking a hardly understandable Scottish accent) escapes and sets all the prisoners on MS One free. With the president’s daughter taken hostage, Snow gets his chance at redemption being sent on a one-man mission to retrieve Miss Warnock. Snow, however, also has a secret personal agenda going on as one of the inmates holds the key to prove his innocence.
A rogue badass agent in near future sent into a maximum security prisoner to save the president’s daughter – does it ring a bell? I thought so. To call Lockout as being inspired by Escape from New York/Escape from L. A. would be the same as to call the Steven Seagal actioner Under Siege as being “inspired” by Die Hard. In fact, it is a total rip-off from start to finish. This doesn’t necessarily need to be a bad thing either. The plot channels a strong schlocky 1980s sci-fi action vibe and Guy Pearce (Memento) is always an interesting actor to watch. This was never going to be a high quality action film, but it wasn’t unreasonable to expect a trashy fun ride. Unfortunately Guy Pearce’s track record of mainstream movies is mixed at best. The Count of Monte Christo was fun, but the less said about The Time Machine or Bedtime Stories, the better. Unfortunately Lockout proves once again that Guy Pearce and mainstream movies just don’t mix well.
This is definitely not Pearce’s fault. He understands the utterly silly, unoriginal and referential nature of the plot and does his best Snake Plissken impression. His laconic character is the archetype of a science fiction anti-hero. About 90% of his film dialogue consists of one-liners such as “His name was Fuck You, he was Asian” or “I guess that’s why they call it a punchline” while he is being pummelled during his interrogation by the Secret Service head played by Peter Stormare. Guy Pearce’s extremely self-aware cool-as-ice performance is unfortunately the film’s only real highlight as he is not just surrounding by a been-there seen-that plot, but also by awful performances, twists you can see a few minutes into the movie, uninspired action scenes and terrible visuals. The movie is the directing debut for the Irish due James Mather and Stephen St. Leger and if Lockout is a true indicator of their “talent”, then the next time you’ll see their names will be most likely in the opening credits of a C-grade direct-to-DVD movie – which is frankly what Lockout feels like starting about ten minutes into the movie. Maybe it would have been better released as such and could be enjoyed at home with some nachos and an ice-cold six-pack of beer. However, even then, there are far better movies to watch as even on the unintentional level it is not as much fun as one can hope for.
While Pearce really does his best, while at the same time being aware of the crapfest he is part of, the other performers apparently seem to take this thing more seriously such as Maggie Grace who repeats her damsel-in-distress performance that she has already delivered in another Besson-produced actioner, Taken, a few years ago. Lennie James’ soft-spoken turn as the only person who believes Snow’s innocence, Peter Stormare’s as the hammy Secret Service guy, Tim Plester as Snow’s trusted man and the very British villains are not just stock characters, but they also never ham it up enough or do enough over-the-top antics to really make them interesting in any way.
Even worse is the movie in the visual department. Obviously, on a $30 million budget it is quite ambitious to set a movie in space (and feature some actual spaceship battles too). However, if you look at what movies like District 9, Chronicle or Cloverfield achieved with similar or even smaller production budgets you can’t help but wonder why some of the movie’s visual effects look like taken directly out of a 1990s video game. Yes, they are that bad. In particular the motorcycle chase scene near the film’s beginning looks absolutely horrendous and will probably be the worst effects-work shown in theatres all year (I have seen higher quality DTV movies) whereas the spaceships’ attack on MS One during the film’s end looks not much better effects-wise than the Rebel Alliance attacking the Death Star at the end of the first Star Wars movie. One has got to wonder where all that money went to, considering that, aside from Pearce, none of the actors could have cost much.
Luc Besson might be best known for his directing of great movies like Leon: The Professional and The Fifth Element, but in the recent years his name is far more associated with writing and producing low key action movies. His Transporter franchise made Jason Statham the action star that he is and Taken gave Liam Neeson’s career a new turn, making him a formidable draw in action movies. There is little depth or artistic merit to be found in most of Besson-produced films (unlike his own The Professional), but if there is one this that most of them have in common is that they certainly deliver on the action promise. Sadly Lockout even fails here. There aren’t many solid action scenes to speak of and even those that start out well (the hotel room fight at the beginning) end up being quite ridiculous (thanks to the ensuing chase scene). Guy Pearce’s character Snow would have been great for a B-grade action flick that Besson usually churns out. However, the filmmaking here is so uninspired, lazy and derivative that not even a little bit of enjoyment, intentional or not, arises throughout its running time. http://www.worldofkj.com/article.php?i=693
_________________The greatest thing on earth is to love and to be loved in return!
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Mon Apr 09, 2012 1:20 pm |
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David
Pure Phase
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 7:33 am Posts: 34865 Location: Maryland
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Re: Lockout
Don't listen to Lecter. Review: http://www.worldofkj.com/article.php?i=695There's going to be summer movies with way bigger budgets, but way less fun. I would gladly watch more movies with Guy Pearce just kicking ass as Snow Plissken. Too bad they won't happen.
_________________1. The Lost City of Z - 2. A Cure for Wellness - 3. Phantom Thread - 4. T2 Trainspotting - 5. Detroit - 6. Good Time - 7. The Beguiled - 8. The Florida Project - 9. Logan and 10. Molly's Game
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Sat Apr 14, 2012 3:08 am |
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Dr. Lecter
You must have big rats
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 4:28 pm Posts: 92093 Location: Bonn, Germany
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Re: Lockout
Lol, you also liked Ghost Rider 2...
_________________The greatest thing on earth is to love and to be loved in return!
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Sat Apr 14, 2012 7:50 am |
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Dr. Lecter
You must have big rats
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 4:28 pm Posts: 92093 Location: Bonn, Germany
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Re: Lockout
Seriously, though, the film is crap, bar Guy Pearce, but I can see why some would still enjoy it for the trashiness. For me, it wasn't trashy enough.
_________________The greatest thing on earth is to love and to be loved in return!
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Sat Apr 14, 2012 8:43 am |
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2001
Another You
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2007 5:38 am Posts: 4556
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Re: Lockout
Lecter is wrong, so wrong. The effects are DTV-level shitiness yes, but what it lacks in that aspect is made up by Guy Pearce awesomeness and because it's so much fun.
This would have been a 100m+ hit had it been handled by a major studio, I feel.
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Fri Jun 22, 2012 12:31 pm |
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David
Pure Phase
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 7:33 am Posts: 34865 Location: Maryland
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Re: Lockout
Indeed. Guy Pearce is electrifying in this. He truly creates a compelling, entertaining, memorable character.
And the movie isn't bad in general either, IMO. Maggie Grace is sexy. The crazy, tattooed English/Scottish villain is colorful. It moves at a nice pace.
It is a shame the FX aren't better, though they almost give the film a certain lo-fi charm. But certain scenes--such as the one-shot car chase during the prologue--could have been amazing with proper CGI. It's kinetic, but it's also straight out of an N64 game.
_________________1. The Lost City of Z - 2. A Cure for Wellness - 3. Phantom Thread - 4. T2 Trainspotting - 5. Detroit - 6. Good Time - 7. The Beguiled - 8. The Florida Project - 9. Logan and 10. Molly's Game
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Fri Jun 22, 2012 12:44 pm |
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Dr. Lecter
You must have big rats
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 4:28 pm Posts: 92093 Location: Bonn, Germany
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Re: Lockout
There is no doubt that Pearce is awesome. But not for a single second does the movie deserve him.
And c'mon, don't insult N64 games. The effects are mind-bogglingly bad in that chase scene.
_________________The greatest thing on earth is to love and to be loved in return!
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Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:03 pm |
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2001
Another You
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2007 5:38 am Posts: 4556
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Re: Lockout
The only category in which it failed besides the effects is it didn't make Maggie Grace as hot as she should have been. The film became a somewhat of a letdown as soon as she was disguised as a prisoner. If that's the reason for Lecter's rating, I'd understand it somehow.
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Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:40 pm |
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trixster
loyalfromlondon
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 6:31 pm Posts: 19697 Location: ville-marie
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Re: Lockout
This movie is a ton of fun.
_________________Magic Mike wrote: zwackerm wrote: If John Wick 2 even makes 30 million I will eat 1,000 shoes. Same. Algren wrote: I don't think. I predict.
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Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:44 pm |
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SolC9
Forum General
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2005 11:11 pm Posts: 7172 Location: Wisconsin
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Re: Lockout
I liked this movie quite a lot. It is a lot of fun. Guy Pierce is awesome, and has a good dialogue script to work with. It's hilarious. Maggie Grace is so hot it's ridiculous. It's difficult not to look at her. Honestly, considering the budget was 20M, the effects could have been a lot worse. And I've seen worse with far bigger budgets.
B+
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Sun Jul 15, 2012 4:36 pm |
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Gulli
Jordan Mugen-Honda
Joined: Mon May 01, 2006 9:53 am Posts: 13403
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Re: Lockout
Oddly disappointing although yes Pearce is suitably awesome. Plus the thin Scottish guy is easily the most annoying shit I've ever seen in a film.
_________________ Rosberg was reminded of the fuel regulations by his wheel's ceasing to turn. The hollow noise from the fuel tank and needle reading zero had failed to convay this message
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Sun Jul 15, 2012 5:08 pm |
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Caius
A very honest-hearted fellow
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 8:02 pm Posts: 4767
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Re: Lockout
2001 wrote: The only category in which it failed besides the effects is it didn't make Maggie Grace as hot as she should have been. The film became a somewhat of a letdown as soon as she was disguised as a prisoner. If that's the reason for Lecter's rating, I'd understand it somehow. I liked her with dark hair. Peter Stormare's English accent was awful. However, I did like it.
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Wed Jul 18, 2012 1:09 am |
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Algren
now we know
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm Posts: 67153
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Lockout
We know it's a generic hostage thriller just with a sci-fi setting instead of the usual real-world setting, and all the plot turns and scenarios that usually play out in hostage films make an appearance here too, but this was a fun movie for the most part. It's corny, but it reminded me of Fortress, and Guy Pearce played a cool, quick-witted operative that was rather likeable. He had surely been hitting the gym and looked awesome.
C+
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