Lockout Review

Rated PG-13 (Intense Sequences of Violence and Action, and Language including some Sexual References)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 35 Minutes

Cast-

Guy Pearce-Snow

Maggie Grace-Emilie Warnock

Peter Stormare-Scott Langral

Lennie James-Harry Shaw

Vincent Regan-Alex

Joseph Gilgun-Hydell

Tim Plester-Mace

Peter Hudson-President Warnock

Jacky Ido-Hock

Miodrag Stevanovic-Frank Armstrong

Directed by James Mather and Stephen St. Leger

"So this is what my career has come to."

French director Luc Besson has over fifty films to his credit either as director, writer, and/or producer in an impressive career that has now spanned three decades with no signs of stopping. Unfortunately, his recent work is anything but impressive as his factory-like studio EuropaCorp continuously churns out action films year after year and often recycles elements from Besson’s earlier films such as 1990’s “Nikita” and 1994’s “Léon: The Professional.” Keeping himself busy in the past twelve years as a writer and producer, Besson has only occasionally returned to the director’s chair to adapt his “Arthur” series of fantasy novels into a trilogy of animated films. His latest film, “The Lady,” based on the life of former Burmese political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi starring Michelle Yeoh and David Thewlis, is currently in limited release but critical reception has been mixed. Besson and EuropaCorp’s latest collaboration is “Lockout”, a science fiction/action film that never rises above mediocrity thanks to its lazy script and generic visuals. 

Taking place in the year 2079, an ex-CIA agent named Snow (Guy Pearce) has been captured for interrogation by Scott Langral (Peter Stormare), the Chief of the United States Secret Service. Snow is accused of shooting his best friend Frank Armstrong (Miodrag Stevanovic), who was supposedly trying to sell state secrets to a foreign power. Unable to get Snow to confess, Langral later informs him that he has been found guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit espionage against the United States and will be sentenced to thirty years of stasis sleep aboard the maximum security space prison MS-One. Meanwhile, Emilie Warnock (Maggie Grace), daughter of the President of the United States, has arrived on MS-One on a humanitarian mission to ensure that the prisoners have been treated fairly and study the effects of stasis sleep on their mental health. Emilie interviews a psychotic prisoner named Hydell (Joseph Gilgun) but he ends up grabbing her bodyguard’s gun and shoots out the protective window separating Emilie from him, causing a massive explosion. Hydell escapes from his chains and forces a technician to free all the prisoners in stasis, who quickly overwhelm all the guards and take over the space station. An intelligent inmate named Alex (Vincent Regan) assumes leadership over the other prisoners and takes the station’s staff, including Emilie, hostage. Langral informs President Warnock (Peter Hudson) of the situation, who orders a full-scale military assault but another Secret Service agent named Harry Shaw (Lennie James) suggests sending in one man to rescue Emilie. This man turns out to be Snow, who initially scoffs at the offer but changes his mind when Shaw subtly reveals that his contact Mace (Tim Plester) is aboard MS-One and can prove Snow’s innocence. With the massive space station on a crash course to Earth, Snow races against time to rescue Emilie and clear his name while battling hundreds of the world’s most violent and sadistic criminals. 

“Lockout” was a film that wasn’t even on my radar until I saw a preview of it during a screening of “Haywire” back in January. Judged solely on its poster, I wouldn’t be surprised if you mistook the film for some bargain bin, direct-to-video schlock because that’s honestly where it should belong. Lacking any sense of identity and imagination, the futuristic world that is presented in the film is generic to a fault and looks like a poor man’s version of 1982’s “Blade Runner.” Aside from an armored police hovercraft and extra grime in the streets, 2079 looks no different from 2012. Hell, even the subways in New York City remain unchanged, although I would imagine the fare hikes will be quite high given the rate of inflation but you would think a more efficient form of public transportation be developed sixty-seven years into the future. Written by Besson with directors James Mather and Stephen St. Leger, the script is predictable and offers no real surprises but what’s even worse is that these three cannot even take what is a relatively simple concept and turn it something exciting or suspenseful. Logic is thrown out the window as well with characters frequently going into dangerous locations marked with huge warning signs but no one ever notices until it’s too late! Even more puzzling is that this massive prison/space station has so few guards and no computer security system in place to lock out any unauthorized intruder. The ending is both anticlimactic and a rushed mess as the film sloppily ties-up every loose-end. Usually, a film of this type has at least a few standout action scenes to make up for its lack of story but none of the fights showcase anything new or compelling that we haven’t seen before. “Lockout” even rips-off of last year’s “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol” when Snow finds himself attacked by a prisoner in a large, anti-gravity chamber. The visual effects work range from competent to absolutely horrendous, especially during a chase scene in the beginning of the film that features obvious green-screen work. No one was expecting an award-winning film but it feels like Besson isn’t even trying. 

The characters are largely one-note with little in the way of personality but Guy Pearce seems to have a lot fun as Snow and really tries to elevate the film with his snarky, no-nonsense personality. His constant one-liners offer up a chuckle and Pearce remains the sole bright spot in an otherwise mediocre film but his efforts are ultimately wasted without a good (or at least competent) script to back it up. Maggie Grace is an attractive lady but she comes across as a whiny brat and the lack of any on-screen chemistry fails to justify their eventual romance. The rest of the cast do not even try to hide their boredom and do very little besides staring into a computer screen. It’s clear that Peter Stormare and Lennie James are only in the film to pick up a paycheck and call it a day’s work. With no discernible motivation, the villains fail to drum up any sort of menace with the exception of Joseph Gilgun as a mentally-unhinged prisoner named Hydell. 

“Lockout” was released on April 13, 2012 to largely negative reviews with 33% on Rotten Tomatoes as critics wrote it off as ‘ultimately too derivative and shallow to build on the many sci-fi thrillers it borrows from.’ This film was made on a production budget of approximately $20 to $30 million so it’s not like it was a huge investment for the studios involved. However, with only $2.2 million so Friday, it’s going to have to settle for a weak opening weekend debut of $6.5 million but the screening I was at almost had a packed audience to my surprise. “Lockout” may provide some mild thrills for those who have a penchant for B-movie genre fare but for everyone else, you might as well go check out “The Hunger Games” for the fourth time…unless you’d prefer that horrid comedy “The Three Stooges” from the Farrelly Brothers.

Final Rating: 2 out of 5

“Don't get me wrong. I mean, it's a dream vacation! I mean, I go into space…I get inside the maximum security nuthouse. Get past all the psychos, save the President's daughter, if she's not dead already. I'm thrilled that you would think of me.”