Have these films become out-dated? Do audiences not really want to see this kind of film anymore? I guess not really, because the complaints from online communities and reviews that I have seen about Lockout so far are pretty extreme!
"It's boring and so predictable!"
"The action scenes are terrible!"
It doesn't look good, does it?
Now, if I was a complete sheep and followed the crowd, I would probably start writing a similar scathing review... however, I'm not ashamed to admit it, but I actually kind of enjoyed Lockout.
The film follows the main character of Snow (Guy Pearce), our wise-cracking hero who is wrongly accused of espionage and murder. In order to clear his name, he is forced to go on a mission to SAVE THE PRESIDENT'S DAUGHTER!! Emilie Warnock (Maggie Grace) from a prison base, that is in outer space and orbiting the Earth, where the prisoner inmates have started to riot and takeover.
I couldn't help but smile at certain points of Lockout. It's such a throwback to cheesy 1980/1990s action films that is was just like I was a young lad again. It felt like I was watching the new John McClane, John Rambo or Dutch appear before me. Sure, the film was modernised with the hokey outer space prison concept, but the typical plot and characters were still there. I've seen online that a lot of people found Pearce's character, Snow to be a bit too much at times and that his wise-cracking jokes got old. I found it to be on the contrary. I really loved the way that Pearce built up his attitude and how he interacted with other characters - especially Grace's character, Emilie. I suppose that I could argue the case that Pearce didn't really have a proper character arc - he remained the same character throughout and didn't really make any changes, even at the end - but, I was enjoying his simple-minded jokes so much, that I didn't really mind!
Moving onto the villains, brothers Alex (Vincent Regan) and Hydell (Joseph Gilgun) do fairly well with the limited characters that they are given, but I can't help feel that they were constantly overshadowed by Pearce. They certainly gave off the impression that they were evil, but they were a bit too simple for my liking. It's revealed quite early on that they are brothers, so I was expecting there to be some good tension built up between the two, but it never really happens. They also have a really basic back-story and never truly reveal what they want or why they were imprisoned in the first place. Were they trying to get off the prison base? Were they trying to rule the prison and stay there?
Another issue I had is that the outer space prison seemed a little... empty, even though thousands of prisoners had just been freed. I half expected there to be a power struggle to rule the prison between the villainous brothers and the other prisoners, but there wasn't. I expected there to be trouble around every corner for Pearce's character when trying to find THE PRESIDENT'S DAUGHTER!! but he didn't. In fact, many times he would talk/shout without any worries and walk through many deserted corridors.
Having said all that, and the problems with the main villains, the film does a half decent job with racking up the tension - especially in the first half of the film. Within the first five minutes, we witness our hero, Pearce being hit hard across the face in a glorious close-up shot as he is being interrogated. Then, we see him being chased across the city before being arrested - admittedly, the CGI in the chase scene is terrible, but I still found it effective in keeping the tension up.
There's a scene where Pearce and THE PRESIDENT'S DAUGHTER!! are making their way through the vents - a simple scene that you half expect to have nothing happen - yet the tension is still built up as we realise they are being followed.
Some of this tension is released a bit by the film's third act, especially with the obligatory "I'm not leaving this space prison without you" scene (which I was expecting all along) and the pretty stupid space jump at the end of the film. I won't go into too much detail, as I don't want to spoil it, but all the tension that's built when you think they have no way out of the outer space prison is wiped away with a bit of lazy writing.
So, a judgement needs to be made between how much of a film needs to be predictable and how much needs to be fresh enough to keep us guessing. I've slated films before for being too predictable, but what makes Lockout different is that it feels like more of a throwback rather than an all-out copy of previous films before it.
If you like your cheesy action with simple villains, wise-cracking heroes and the damsel in distress (aka. THE PRESIDENT'S DAUGHTER!!) then it's safe to say that you will find Lockout to be an entertaining, but not necessarily revolutionary, film.
If you are expecting a space epic of Alien and Blade Runner proportions, then I'm afraid to say that you will be disappointed.
Much like the cheesy action films of the previous decade, go in with your eyes wide open, your brain switched off and your mind left open, because it's best in this kind of film if you don't think and just enjoy/accept everything you are shown on screen!
***½ / *****
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