Film Review: Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace in Annoying, Awful ‘Lockout’

Submitted by BrianTT on April 13, 2012 - 12:04pm

CHICAGO – The annoying and boring “Lockout” is a pile of aggressive junk masquerading as a good time. Some critics and viewers will pretend that this is a “fun B-movie” just because it has a few over-the-top sequences (that look completely cartoonish), an absolutely ridiculous premise, and a scenery-chewing performance from the great Guy Pearce. Don’t believe them. They’re making excuses for a movie that’s totally bereft of creative storytelling and has a screenplay that most straight-to-video directors would say needs a rewrite.

Rating: 1.0/5.0

“Lockout” starts promisingly in concept and the casting of its leading man. Lest you think I’m some pretentious film critic who can’t get into a well-made B-movie, the idea of an “Escape From New York” in space with the underrated Guy Pearce in the Snake Plissken role seemed like a slam dunk. How do you screw that up? Watch “Lockout” and find out.

Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Lockout” in our reviews section.

Honestly, “Lockout” never again finds the fun of its opening credits (it’s all downhill), as our tough guy hero Snow (Pearce) is introduced in a clever way – delivering barbs between punches in an interrogation room. Set in a cardboard-looking 2079, Snow has been captured by a slimy government agent named Langral (Peter Stormare) who is interrogating him with the help of another agent named Shaw (Lennie James). It turns out that Snow was just involved in a shootout involving government secrets being transferred in a metal briefcase. Someone was killed, a chase that resembled a video game cut scene ensued, there were a lot of explosions, and the case was hidden thanks to the help of a Snow compatriot named Mace (Tim Plester). Where’s the case? Did Snow kill his contact?

Meanwhile, the President’s daughter, Emilie Warnock (Maggie Grace) is visiting the landmark space prison M.S. One, a block of crazy convicts floating above Earth. Most of the convicts have been placed in a frozen state and Warnock is convinced that the rumors that they’re being experimented on are true. She goes there on a humanitarian mission. It doesn’t go well. Before you can say, it’s probably not a good idea to house unstable people in such an unstable environment (we later learn that there’s ONE guy on board who can basically keep the thing in orbit), the prisoners have escaped and taken Warnock hostage, led By Alex (Vincent Regan) and his crazy brother Hydell (Joseph Gilgun). For reasons that never really make sense, Snow is chosen as the one who will go to space and save her (and maybe even get the mysterious case since Mace has been quickly shuttled to the prison). Apparently, it’s about as easy to get back and forth to the prison as taking the red line downtown.

Continue reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “Lockout” review.

“Lockout” stars Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, Peter Stormare, Lennie James, Joseph Gilgun, and Vincent Regan. It was directed by James Mather & Stephen St. Leger. It is rated PG-13 and opens on April 13, 2012.