There is something inherently wonderful about those movies that take themselves to a place of pure absurdity, somewhere so devoid of logic or reason that it allows them to drop any and all pretense of the story taking place in a realistic world. Without the shackles of rules and meaning to hold them down, these stories run wild, fully exploiting each and every moment for pure humor, action, machismo, sexuality, or pretty much any emotion under the sun. It's silly, it's meaningless and it can be absolutely necessary to any true movie fan's collection. These campy, cult masterpieces are a true form of filmmaking, but this particular entry into that world doesn't quite make the "must see" list.
Lockout is the futuristic tale of Agent Snow, an anti-hero pegged with a murder he didn't commit. His only hope for good favor is to fly out into space, penetrate a floating maximum security prison and rescue the daughter of the President before she is turned into fresh meat for the space crazed psychopaths.
The idea for this outer space romp sprung from the mind of Luc Besson, known as a legend for Leon: The Professional, La Femme Nikita and The Fifth Element. He is also well loved in the action-camp world for bringing us the fast driving, feet flying magic of the Transporter series. So with a resume like that backing this up, there is a certain level of high-paced insanity you expect waiting behind the curtain. Yet what we get here is a transplanted homage to John Carpenter, another legend of camp cinema, and his masterpiece, Escape from New York. Even down to the performance of Guy Pearce (as Agent Snow) it hearkens immediately back to Kurt Russell and his iconic turn as Snake Plissken. That is not to necessarily say it was bad solely because of Pierce, just that it didn't inspire any surprise or intrigue during the movie.
Pierce defiantly gives it his all as the gruff, chain smoking, joke tossing anti-hero, but try as he might to elevate this into the cult upper echelon, the rest of the movie just settles into a straight-to-DVD experience. Although, I will give a special mention to Joseph Gilgun, who played the maniacally unstable Hydell, the crazed little brother of the leader of the inmates. He really got down into the insanity and playful craziness that infused all of his scenes with a chuckle and a shudder.
Lockout is the futuristic tale of Agent Snow, an anti-hero pegged with a murder he didn't commit. His only hope for good favor is to fly out into space, penetrate a floating maximum security prison and rescue the daughter of the President before she is turned into fresh meat for the space crazed psychopaths.
The idea for this outer space romp sprung from the mind of Luc Besson, known as a legend for Leon: The Professional, La Femme Nikita and The Fifth Element. He is also well loved in the action-camp world for bringing us the fast driving, feet flying magic of the Transporter series. So with a resume like that backing this up, there is a certain level of high-paced insanity you expect waiting behind the curtain. Yet what we get here is a transplanted homage to John Carpenter, another legend of camp cinema, and his masterpiece, Escape from New York. Even down to the performance of Guy Pearce (as Agent Snow) it hearkens immediately back to Kurt Russell and his iconic turn as Snake Plissken. That is not to necessarily say it was bad solely because of Pierce, just that it didn't inspire any surprise or intrigue during the movie.
Pierce defiantly gives it his all as the gruff, chain smoking, joke tossing anti-hero, but try as he might to elevate this into the cult upper echelon, the rest of the movie just settles into a straight-to-DVD experience. Although, I will give a special mention to Joseph Gilgun, who played the maniacally unstable Hydell, the crazed little brother of the leader of the inmates. He really got down into the insanity and playful craziness that infused all of his scenes with a chuckle and a shudder.