Lockout

Lockout begins with Guy Pearce being repeatedly punched in the face, which is pretty much the feeling you get when watching this loud, mad piece of hokum. Set in 2079, the film has framed CIA agent Snow (Guy Pearce) sent to a maximum security prison in space in order to break out the (visiting inspector) presidents daughter Emilie (Maggie Grace) as the natives have revolted. Yep, this Luc Besson scripted production is as mad as it sounds. They say computer games have begun to resemble films more and more over the last few years, but the opposite is true here when it comes to a ridiculously stupid opening scene (a motorcycle riding Snow being chased through the streets) which is so special effects heavy it basically has no resemblance to any sort of reality and you feel like you should be sitting in the cinema with a X-Box controller in your hand. Frankly it’s a terrible start, but the film does recover to deliver the type of Friday night action it aims to be. It’s always suspicious when a film has joint directors, but first timers James Mather and Stephen St. Leger get by with an unbelievable amount of green screen, a MacGuffin regarding a briefcase and the hamming up of the majority of the cast. Pearce is one of the more “serious” actors around so it’s quite a surprise to see him in something like this. Whether he just fancied the pay cheque or wanted to do something a bit different I’m not too sure but his performance is so laid back it’s almost horizontal. To be fair to Pearce you can’t take stuff like this at face value anyway. This is a film that has people falling off skyscrapers on to conveniently placed mattresses, the effects of bullet wounds being treated by putting on a lab coat and bad guys looking at voice activated bombs, recognising what they are and then saying “shit” (though I guess that’s a homage to the famous end scene of Besson’s Leon). The film is surprisingly brutal in places (well, with the subject matter how could it not be) and is all the better for it. There’s been far too much pussy footing around with film certificates in the last few years and this one at least goes for the jugular (though as this is a French production we shouldn’t be too surprised). As for the acting only Joseph Gilgun (complete with thick Glaswegian accent that will surely have to be dubbed for the North American market) deserves to be mentioned in dispatches as the looniest of the loons in the prison. There’s a couple of smart ideas and some good one-liners, but the script goes over the top on the gag front meaning Pearce has to blurt out quips on an almost minute by minute basis and there’s a lot more misses than hits. In some countries this is know by the title MS One: Maximum Security, which gives you a clue as to this film’s almost straight to DVD quality, but at least it’s honest about what it is.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Stupid, dumb and just about staying on the right side of fun. Rating: 6/10.