It was only natural that I became
curious when I heard of a forthcoming film featuring the two super-heavyweights
of 80s action. As any man who grew up in the 90s can attest to, Arnold
Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone are part of my childhood. VHS copies of Commando or Cliffhanger might have been some of the first we owned and while
most of their output has aged even worse than the actors themselves, I still
get a little tingle at the thought of seeing them on screen. Escape Plan marks the pair’s first
appearance as co-stars although they were seen on screen together in Stallone’s
The Expendables. The pairing might
have come twenty years later than most fans would have liked but it certainly
draws more attention to this movie than it would have if only one man had
featured. Joining Arnie and Sly are the likes of Vinnie Jones and 50 Cent so Citizen Kane, watch out!
Stallone plays Ray Breslin, a man
who is paid by the US Government to break out of maximum security prisons; a
job he excels at. The movie opens with a long, dull sequence in which the
audience discovers just how good he is. He’s very good. He gets out. Although
he barely has time to change out of his prison jumpsuit, he’s offered double
his normal fee to break out of an undercover, off the grid, top, neigh,
super-duper top secret facility. He literally grunts at the chance and is soon
back inside. Immediately Breslin discovers that this is unlike any other jail
he’s seen before and when his emergency escape code is laughed off, he realises
he’s going to need all his skills (as well as fellow convict Emil Rottmayer –
Schwarzenegger) if he’s going to escape. Breslin develops a plan – an Escape Plan.
