Lockout
Directed by: James Mather & Stephen St. Leger
Cast: Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, Peter Stormare, Vincent Regan, Joseph Gilgun
Running Time: 1 hr 32 mins
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: April 13, 2012
PLOT: In the year 2079, a prisoner (Pearce) is offered freedom if he can rescue the President's daughter (Grace) from a prison in space that has been overrun by inmates.
WHO'S IT FOR?: If the thought of past action classics like Die Hard or The Rock leaves you feeling a bit nostalgic for the simple joys of explosions and gunfire, Lockout will probably be a fulfilling experience. Those looking for a well-made, clever romp of special effects and originality better look elsewhere.
EXPECTATIONS: The appearance of Pearce in an action movie produced by Luc Besson (The Fifth Element) felt random ... until I remembered what Taken did for Liam Neeson's badass credibility. As for this movie by itself, the poster promised gunfire and people surrounded by flames, and then the trailers indicated that this one was going to take place in space ... to me, that sounds like dumb fun waiting to happen.
SCORECARD (0-10)
ACTORS:
Guy Pearce as Snow: With a bad habit for macho cigarette drags and an extreme dedication to being a smart-ass, Pearce's character is far from an original action hero. Were it not for the compelling presence of someone like Pearce, this factor would have been more glaring. Thankfully, the diverse actor is an action junkie's treat in this simple role. Pearce uses his charisma to display instant confidence in a part that would have lost all impact in the hands of someone expected, like Jason Statham or Gerard Butler. In the end, Pearce's "real actor magic" is that he can have audiences not realize they're watching an inside-and-out rip-off of Bruce Willis' Die Hard character John McClane. Score: 6
Maggie Grace as Emilie Warnock: In Taken, Grace played a young girl in a vulnerable position who gets kidnapped. In Lockout, she plays the President's daughter, and wouldn't you know, she gets kidnapped. However, in this round Grace has been given more gusto, and her character is a little bit more than a rescue mission. She makes her own decisions, and even provides some opposition to Pearce's tough guy presence. Score: 4
Rest of Cast: Lockout features two different types of villains, each of them very familiar. On one hand, there's the psychotic sidekick (Gilgun), who aims to strike intimidation through his itchy trigger finger and deformed appearance. And then there's the intellectual bad guy, this one played by Regan, who puts a calm sanity before any inclination to kill (though he has no problem with murder). As with nearly everything about this movie, these villains are amusing hand-me-downs from numerous films before, both very good and very bad. Score: 4
TALKING: Lockout's love for vintage action certainly doesn't stop with its dialogue. Amongst tough guy utterances like "Don't mess with your poker chips," everyone uses the phrase "Son of a bitch!" at least once, even if the person being addressed isn't actually the son of a female dog. The biting repartee between Grace and Pearce sends Lockout into amusing screwball territory, with the two firing giggle-worthy disses and quips at one another. The best one might be when Pearce says to Grace about the orange inmate jumpsuits, "They don't come in pink." Score: 6
SIGHTS: Hokey special effects underwhelm moments that should have much more oomph to their "BOOM!" Space ship dogfights, big explosions, and even a futuristic motorcycle chase aren't nearly as cool as they should be, which only sounds like a stupid statement, but makes total sense in the context of a movie that is basically brain dead like Lockout. The incredibly clunky editing also cuts back on the fun to be had with simple scenes, with events usually rushed through (such as the climactic explosion). A beginning chase with Pearce speeding through a video game intro is a visual cacophony. Lockout also stinks of re-edits made to earn a PG-13 rating, and any attempt at serious smoothness usually suffers from these cut corners. Score: 5
SOUNDS: "Beat City" by the Raveonettes plays during the credits. Similar to how cheap effects make even a silly movie slightly less fun, the sound design doesn't provide audience members a strong audible experience, with some effects mixed too low under the score to provide full effect. Score: 4
PLOT SPOILERS
BEST SCENE: A scene in which Pearce fights a thug in mid-air over some generator room provides the type of silly amusement Lockout could have benefited more from.
ENDING: Quadruply confirming the movie's Hollywood state of mind, the two surviving characters (guess who?) walk into a futuristic sunset, with the story indifferently open to a sequel. Does the movie care? Do we care? Whatever.
QUESTIONS: This is another movie co-written and produced by The Fifth Element maker Luc Besson, but not directed. There has to be a reason that Besson hasn't done some of these movies (From Paris with Love, The Transporter) himself, right? I mean, he must think he's better than this content? Why doesn't he just buck up and make another ridiculous action movie of his own?
REWATCHABILITY: Just like the movies that have inspired Lockout, this film has no immediate replay value, but you'd definitely be stuck watching it for a few minutes when coming across it on cable.
OVERALL
Another proudly dumb actioner from the guy who co-writes movies like From Paris With Love and Columbiana and then gives them to other schmucks to direct, Lockout is a piece of vintage '90s action that's proudly more like The Rock than modern movies like Transformers: Dark of the Moon. And like the new The Three Stooges movie, Lockout reminds us as to what has always worked within a genre, and what no longer feels fresh with our modern standards. With hardly an original bone (or brain cell) in its body, we know from Lockout that even in 2079, some cliches will still be fighting for our entertainment.
As if one needed specific examples, Lockout is the type of action movie where the hero narrowly escapes a squad of villains right before they enter the room (this happens at least three times in this movie). The main hero is a bulky guy with an expert wit, and would make for a good screenwriter if the whole "saving the day" gig stops paying.
Considering the elements at play in Lockout, the film is guilty of not rolling around enough in its own slop. Lockout is quick to broadcast a good (dark) humor about its attitude, while also displaying giddiness to play with some typical toys (space, a smart-ass hero in a cliche sandwich of a scenario). The follow through in this regard is underwhelming, especially for the standards that Lockout sets for itself. If a movie with these toys is so happy to resign itself to the comically impossible, it shouldn't hesitate to flaunt its lack of bounds. Come on Lockout, where are the ridiculous fight scenes in space, or the overdone edits of mega explosions? Be loud, and be proud!
Under the simple criteria of looking at Lockout as a piece of moviemaking that cost hundreds of hours to ultimately bring to theaters, Lockout is best as a silly skip down the manly memory lane of action's brawnier days. The film is simply not technically competent enough to even deserve the option of being taken seriously. Lockout traps itself with its own standards.
FINAL SCORE: 4/10