DIRECTOR: JOHN HERZFELD | SCREENPLAY: MILES CHAPMAN | STARRING: SYLVESTER STALLONE, DAVE BAUTISTA, 50 CENT, JIN ZHANG, DEVON SAWA, JAIME KING, MELISE | UK RELEASE DATE: JULY 5TH (LIMITED THEATRICAL), AUGUST 26TH (HOME VIDEO)
After Arnold Schwarzenegger fled the Escape Plan franchise following the first film, shrewdly eluding its horrendous sequel, the series looked set to detonate, but Stallone and cine-brickhouse David Bautista have returned once again, in a second follow-up that’s astonishingly often enthralling. Director/co-writer John Herzfeld (Two Days in the Valley) injects a fitting realism and flays the sci-fi vibe, while his script, co-written with the original’s scribe Miles Chapman, is sharper, faster, less bombastic, but much more dramatic than its predecessors.
The story sees the daughter of a Chinese billionaire, Daya Zhang (Melise), kidnapped by the psychotic son of her former business associate. Daya’s kidnapper plants a data-stick inscribed with prison escapist Ray Breslin’s (Stallone) name, in the pocket of her unconscious bodyguard. The contents of which find their way to Breslin and lead him to Dervaniški, Belarus where Trent DeRosa (Bautista) and Daya’s ex-bodyguard Shen (Jin Zhang) plan a breakout to spring both Zhang and Breslin’s recently kidnapped girlfriend Abigail (King) from a giant ramshackle fortress.
The script’s tight set-up presents intriguing new scenarios and secondary characters who are more than just 2D targets to be shot in the backdrop. As the story unravels, so do their connections. Even the psychotic antagonist’s origins stem from the previous films’ backstories, making him motivated by more than just money and power. EP3 is also augmented by sub-plots linking lost loves with personal vendettas which enrich the script with a compound structure and constantly changing character dynamics. While these intricacies service the story, their internal conflicts are not efficiently extrapolated to heighten the drama and emotional arcs. But at the end of the day, this is an Escape Plan sequel, and anything other than bombastic dross is a bonus.
Instead of the previous entries’ ‘90s sci-fi pop noir and subtle cyberpunk vibe, recalling the likes of Freejack, Split Second, Strange Days, and No Escape, this movie is grounded with russet tenors and burnt umber hues evoking the likes of Richard Stanley’s Hardware and Dust Devil, along with bone-cracking violence. This includes Stallone stabbing a pole through the back of someone’s face, Bautista obliterating henchmen with a massive rocket shotgun, and a pitiless cell set punch-up between Breslin and a stooge, which shows Stallone doing what he does best, punching flunkies into artery-clotting thug pâté.
Where the Schwarzenegger shaped crater at the heart of Escape Plan 2 was patent, Bautista does better here as Stallone’s cohort than previously, but he isn’t imperative to this sequel’s success. While it’s refreshing to see Bautista get the stuffing knocked out of him by an equally juggernaut-sized ruffian during a face-slamming fight scene, there is little effective suspense. Yet tension buds during edgy interrogations and the plot flutters by swiftly enough to pay no mind to the sometimes trite dialogue. Aside from decent performances and well-woven backstories, EP3 works better, surprisingly, stripped of its sci-fi fetters, as a straight up prison rescue thriller. While it’s far from ground-breaking and occasionally stammers, this second sequel frequently soars and kicks ass where it counts.
