If you’re wondering whether or not you’ll enjoy the Luc Besson-produced Lockout, first read the following one sentence synopsis: Guy Pearce breaks into a maximum security prison in space to rescue the president’s daughter. If you’re thinking “That sounds a bit stupid/ridiculous/far-fetched” well, you’re absolutely right. But if you’re also thinking something along the lines of “That sounds like fun”, you’d be absolutely right too.
The wonderfully cast Pearce plays Snow, a wise-cracking, insubordinate CIA agent accused of a crime he didn’t commit (naturally). Meanwhile, President Wharton’s daughter Emilie (Maggie Grace) is visiting MS-1, an outer space prison which cryogenically freezes its prisoners. Emilie makes the mistake of thawing mad Glaswegian rapist Hydell (Joseph Gilgun) for an interview, who promptly breaks out and frees the prisoners. Snow’s given a shot at freedom, provided he breaks in and rescues Emilie from the defrosting psychos.
Well, Lockout is just as daft as it sounds but, vitally, everyone is on message. Pearce is on fine form and looks like he’s having fun as he deadpans one-liners and shows off his action chops. He’s not the obvious choice for the lead role in a film like this but his casting is a definite coup for the filmmakers as he keeps our interest during the occasional lulls. The action’s mostly well done, and it’s only really an earth-bound motorbike chase at the beginning that shows first-time directors James Mather and Stephen St. Leger’s imaginations exceeded their budget.
But once we’re shown MS-1, the charm of the film’s ludicrous high-concept takes over and the sci-fi action starts to pick up steam. The details of the routine sub-plot involving Snow’s supposed crime are sensibly side-lined during the film’s first half. Instead, we follow Pearce as he crawls through air-vents, gets through a kind of air propulsion chamber that’s reminiscent of Galaxy Quest and insults everyone around him. Pearce and Grace share decent chemistry, and the actress gets more to do here than she did in her other Besson-written victim role in Taken.
And what’s a prison break-in movie without some memorable cons? While Vincent Regan (300) goes for relatively quiet intensity as the prisoners’ leader, it’s Gilgun (This is England’s Woody) who makes the biggest impression as his twitchy, unpredictable lunatic of a brother. It’s a big, outrageous performance that matches the tone of the film perfectly.
The film does start to crumble towards the end. There’s a sudden rush which left us feeling a bit let down and, as we’ve mentioned, things get a lot less interesting every time the film decides to return to its B-story of “where’s the/what’s in the suitcase Snow took?” But for the most part this is a highly entertaining, very silly sci-fi action movie with very enjoyable turns from Pearce and Gilgun. It may not reach the Escape from New York levels of excellence it aspires to but it’s certainly a lot of fun.
Jonathan has awarded Lockout three torches of truth.
