GUY PEARCE & MAGGIE GRACE IN A FIMLILAR 'LOCKOUT'

year: 2012 rating: ***

Buried remake of John Carpenter’s ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, the sci-fi classic about a rogue prisoner given a dangerous assignment to rescue the President of the United States, held hostage at a prison ruled by lethal inmates. That prison was of course a futuristic New York City and here it’s a giant spaceship floating above earth. And the President’s daughter is taken this time around.

That’s about all the similarities other than the main character Snow who, like Kurt Russell’s Snake Plisskin, is a hardened tough guy but with a personality more Don Rickles than Clint Eastwood...

Cracking wise at any given moment, whether during an interrogation beating or fighting for his life against the lunatic inmates, Guy Pearce makes a likable antihero but his jokes aren't that funny. And much too plentiful. Then again so is the action, making up for a clichéd “rescue the damsel” script: and his co-star's no slouch. LOST actress Maggie Grace plays the captured ingénue with prowess and strength, providing decent chemistry with Pearce – even if their bickering, in the style of Han Solo and Princess Leia, can get forced and repetitive. At a short running time, LOCKOUT goes in one eye and out the other – and that’s not a bad thing. The suspense mounts till the very end when the film’s McGuffin (an important plot device that the audience ignores), a briefcase that can prove Snow's innocence, means little after all the good stuff i.e. mindlessly enjoyable action is put to bed.