Lockout (Unrated) Reviews

Putting aside some truly shocking special effects, Lockout is a perfectly acceptable action film. I quite liked it in fact, the initial interviewing scene was really well done and even though the story was familiar, I liked what they did, and the characters/performances were all good. I really like Guy Pearce as an action hero, he did a really good job of it. He's worth watching it for alone! Ignore the overly-harsh reviews and give it a go!

A half decent almost comic book action film, with a slight feel of Escape from New York about it. Plenty of action to keep you entertained with a decent cast to, Joseph Gilgun has come a long way since Emmerdale! A bit cheesy but you know what to expect from this and it delivers.

"This is one of those films where you can just shut your mind off and watch it in a numb state with drool running down your chin. It's not exciting or thrilling. It tries for some humor, but it ends up trying to hard which ends up being cheesy. I'm not sure if I've seen Guy Pearce in a film before. I thought he made for a good action star. I'm still not sure what I think about Maggie Grace. She was OK I guess. I will say this is a good film to pass the time with, but nothing I would see again."

An instant classic. It`s Escape From New York in space, a film with lots of ideas and great homages to other pictures. A spectacular and pulse-pounding great-time at the movies. It`s slick, wickedly funny and loaded with eye-popping action. A non-stop, action-packed adrenaline-rush from start to finish. An explosive tour de force of fun that just dosent let up for a minute. Writer-Producer, Luc Besson does it again, delivering another compelling action film filled great characters, villains and a fun story. A great cast of stars deliver nothing but strength and fun to their roles. Guy Pearce is fantastic, he`s sharp, funny, cool and just plain awesome. Maggie Grace is excellent. Vincent Regan is outstanding. It`s smart, thrilling and tremendously entertaining. A pure roller-coaster ride that delivers 100% of excitement. A great movie. I loved it.

Snow: That'll freeze the nerves in this spot for 24 hours. You want some in your mouth? 

"Take no prisoners."

Lockout is just another low brain, high action movie; and for what it is, it's watchable. The movie moves at a quick pace, substituting intelligence for speed; but it all does make for a fun little viewing experience. There's a lot of moments when you'll find yourself laughing; not so much at the jokes the movie throws out, but at the ridiculousness of the film itself. I enjoy watching movies like this every once in awhile though. First off, it gives us more appreciation for movies that are actually good, and the second reason is because I'm not so pretentious as to say these movies are completely worthless. It entertained, and I guess that's all I can really ask for. I knew what I was getting myself into in the first place.

Snow has just been convicted of a crime he didn't commit. When a space prison is taken over by the prisoners, hostages are taken. One of which just so happens to be the presidents daughter. Snow is then given a chance of freedom, if he can get into the free falling prison and save the presidents daughter. Snow is a tough guy that can't just answer a question. He's always got to a smart ass. 

As far as the movie goes, it's entertaining, but it's missing some vital things; such as characters that actually make sense and dialogue that actually sounds real. The movie looks good for the most part though, and you gotta love the whole prison in space thing. It's one of those movie you just need to leave your brain at the door for. If you are willing to do that, you should be able to find some enjoyment in it. If you can't(and I don't blame you), this is going to be a movie to forget. Actually you'll probable forget it if you liked it or not.

As far as recommending this movie goes, I would never do that. I don't like suggesting movies that will make the already stupid population even stupider. If you like high action movies, with cool concepts, but no real execution or intelligence, this is a movie that you can get by on. I don't think it necessarily deserves to be thrown out, but it's easy to see why Lockout isn't going to be touted as a science fiction classic.

Silly, crazy, borderline obnoxious, but a fun carefree afternoon popcorn flick.

Not sure why it took two people to direct this film, but James Mather and Stephen St. Leger conjure up some amusement with Lockout.Just reaching 90 minutes, the plot for Lockout is straightforward, paced with high velocity, and contains very little in twists and turns. Fortunately, it contains a lead character worth watching.The action isn't even close in abundance as this science fiction adventure could and should have used. Aside from an out of place segment with obvious CG in the film's first act, the rest of the effects and settings get by.Guy Pearce is the highlight, thanks to the sarcastic cocky attitude and witty dialogue that carry most of the film. His character really does make up for the less impressive elements of the production. Maggie Grace ends up along for the ride, but is a nice watch, especially in a story full of male prisoners.At the end of the day, Lockout plays out as a quick mindless adventure. Enough said.

"Lockout" is a futuristic story where the government sends an ex convict, Snow(Guy Pearce) to a maximum-security prison to save the Presidents Daughter(Maggie Grace). I saw somewhere where this was compared to "Die Hard" and I can see that. The biggest difference is "Die Hard" is a GREAT movie, this is a "meh, just ok" movie. The effects are cheesy, and the dialogue is even cheesier. Snow is a wise cracker, who has a one liner every five minutes, and maybe 2 of them are good. Guy Pearce is good, and he usually is in anything, but he feels out of place. Just something about it makes me think someone else would have been better, but I don't really know who I would choose. The story goes just like you think it would, with a twist you will see coming. If you like futuristic action flicks, you could do worse, but you can find a lot better. Worth a watch if it's free, but I wouldn't pay money to see this.

A generic mishmash of sci-fi films enlivened by a tongue in cheek performance by Guy Pearce. The story really has a cool premise, but they only use it as a backdrop for some action set pieces that are rather normal really. The special effects aren't the greatest and really show their weaknesses during the highway chase scene which looked downright laughable. The acting is all scenery chewing by every single bad guy and it gets a little tiresome after awhile. The movie is fairly entertaining though thanks to the aforementioned Guy Pearce who looks like he is having a lot of fun. The film is pretty stupid and brain dead, however.

O-kay.

Lockout is a decent action film that is clichéd, and takes creative liberties from John Carpenter's Escape from New Work, which is far superior and is an action classic. The cast did a pretty good job considering that the script was sloppily written. Throughout the film there were bits that were hit or miss. The potential was there, but most of the time it falls short, and the director doesn't know how to create something consistent with its plot. Some things work, and some things don't. The problem with Lockout is, is that the cast here are good, but the script is too predictable, relies on old ideas and it all seems like the screenwriters took the easy way out by simply lifting ideas seen in others action films. The result is a heavily flawed film that is a decent viewing, but doesn't really payoff in the end, and leaves you wanting more. Lockout relies too much on derivative ideas, and it could have been much better than what it turned out to be. The problem with the film is that it just falls flat too many time, and where there's something that's supposed to be thrilling, and good, it ends up being a not so good effort. This film ends up being decent, but you realize that there's something missing to really make it memorable and fun for the viewer. Lockout is decent at best, but is nothing new. I felt like many others it was like Escape from New York, which was a superior film and is definitely the one to see compared to this. This is just worth seeing if you have nothing else better to watch.

Hmmm dare I say a Die Hard clone in space? I don't wanna go there I really don't but I think I may have to slightly go there. 'Die Hard' with some continental Besson flare. That flare being evident in the rather short swish high speed bike chase sequence at the start that seems to be a curious blend of videogame and live action comicbook visuals. Either that or its just poor cgi, not sure, looked kinda neat though.

Of course its not exactly 'Die Hard' in space but once the action kicks in you do get that feeling from time to time. Prison in space ('Fortress 2') with lots of naughty spawns all in hibernation. Presidents daughter goes there to see if all the prisoners are being treated well (typical PC goodie goodie), prisoners get loose (didn't see that coming), take presidents daughter hostage so the suits send another freshly convicted badass to save the day.

That badass being Guy Pearce who does add to the 'Die Hard' theory with his snug fit t-shirt and continuous quick wit during the most awkward moments. You do get the impression he's trying his best cocky smart ass Willis routine and while a few lines are sweet it gets dull fast.

From here on the action is violent and brutal with lots of big bald men fighting each other and running amok with guns. For some reason the leaders of this convict outbreak are two Scottish brothers, I got the impression they really wanted Gerard Butler for the lead bad guy seeing as the guy they have (Regan) is a dead ringer for him. If you like brutal Scottish lunatics portrayed by fellow countrymen of England and Wales then behold the glory before thee.

So the plot is completely flat out unoriginal but the look of the sets and space sequences are impressive. Everything does look realistic, not an overblown future with silly laser guns. The sets are of cold steel designs in various tones of blue and grey, add to this the nice lighting and shadow work to really give the place an epic gloss that is slick and ultra cool. I expect nothing less than quality from Besson with action and this film does deliver exactly that with some great visuals, mainly in space.

Its a good smack in the mouth film with lots of aggression which obviously you can't take seriously. Thusly small issues of how the prisoners manage to overcome hibernation so quickly after being released, Pearce's character giving Grace's character a quick trendy haircut so she can fit in with the general population of psycho's without them noticing she's a woman (yeah right!), the end sequence plummet and can gun turrets fire bullets in outer space/orbit?....you must overlook all.

Problem is at the end of the day its just a run of the mill action flick in space with a little bit of brains around the edge. It looks good and that's its trump card, a solid action flick and expensive looking B-movie.

Take no prisoners.

Not bad at all! Good movie! Lock Out is a sci fi action movie with the familiar story of a rebel/criminal being tasked with breaking an important woman out of a high security prison facility. Though the story is clichéd, its a premise that I usually find interesting. The twist here is its the year 2079 in the future, and the prison is an orbiting huge structure above the Earth. Guy Pearce was flawless and oddly fresh as the standard "I don't care" action hero. This film won't win awards but it's a good watch. There aren't any surprises, and the ending is kind of "say what?" but it's one of the better pure action movies to come out in a while. Give it a shot!


Set in the near future, a falsely convicted ex-government agent has one chance at obtaining freedom. He must undertake a dangerous mission to rescue the President's daughter from rioting convicts at an outer space maximum-security prison.

"Take no prisoners."

A man wrongly convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage against the U.S. is offered his freedom if he can rescue the president's daughter from an outer space prison taken over by violent inmates.

REVIEW
It is 2079. Snow (Guy Pearce) is an ex-CIA and now freelance operative (and terminal smartass, with a facetious answer for everything), who is caught up in a doublecross which sees him framed for murder. He is sentenced to 30 years in stasis aboard an orbiting prison. Just before he is due to be dealt with, there is a riot which leads to the President's daughter (among others) being taken hostage. Snow is tasked with rescuing her. As the synopsis may suggest, there are no major surprises in this movie - it is a straightforward break-in-to-break-out affair, albeit set in orbit rather than in an earthbound prison. As well as Pearce's wisecracking hero, Maggie Grace's heroine is spunky or helpless as the plot demands, and we also have the powers that be (corrupt and foolish, of course), vile rioting criminals (Vincent Regan very good as their leader, and Joseph Gilgun wonderfully repellent as his psycho idiot brother), a suspenseful countdown and a twist or two in the tail. This does not stand up to any sort of serious examination, of course (particularly little things like the laws of physics), but that doesn't matter. It is a romp, and rather good fun. I enjoyed it.

Lockout is a big mess. I felt like I was watching a video game and not a movie. This film is basically as generic and bad as scifi action films can get. The only good part was Guy Pearce's dialogue. But the part where the movie fails is its use of Guy. They should of let him carry the movie and not have focused on the terrible story. There are a couple extremely dumb plot twists that seemed like they were thrown in at the last minute and are unintentionally funny. Also, a movie like this needs good CGI, because basically thats all it would have going for it (besides Guy). But no, the CGI is terrible compared to today's standards. Overall, Guy can be great but the rest of the film just fails.

'Lockout' is a silly, disappointing film whose only redeemable value is Guy Pearce's entertainment value as a grade-A ass. The action pieces are few and far between and when they do crop up, they are hectic and awful. The story line is boring and Maggie Grace is aggravating, at best. Pearce is fun to watch and listen to, but after a while you just want to give up on him too, even though you already gave up on the movie 30 minutes in.

What a classic, throwback popcorn blockbuster! It's got everything that made all those old movies tons of fun, and I imagine people will keep watching this for years to come, just for the campy fun. However, in the last 15 years action movie grew and evolved a lot, and this is one of the ones that didn't. Whether or not that bothers you depends on how willing you are to get swept up in the endearing characters and ignore the fact that the bad guys in this movie make all the same damn mistakes bad guys in action movies always make. You know how, after Scream came out, old-school played-straight slasher movies kinda seemed boring by comparison? This is an old-school, played-straight action movie that seems a little anachronistic, archaic and quaint. In a world where the inmates of the most sophisticated mega-prison can overpower the facility with laughable ease, it only makes sense to send in an unco-operative and unpredictable action movie hero to rescue the one important hostage. The world of this movie is blissfully free of the laws of physics - and often common sense - but you won't be disappointed as long as you don't go in expecting it not to be. It's big and dumb, but internally incoherent. The MS One Supermax is held together by its own brand of badassery. The characters are so endearing and fun that I'm more than willing to forgive glaring design errors in the diegetic world and a cartoonishly antagonistic and borderline misogynistic relationship between the action movie hero and the damsel in distress. Guy Pearce rocks my stripy socks in this flick.

A very average film with a lot of predictability, there are some good moments in this, but it is a little drawn out in parts, feel it's a bit of a come down for Guy Pearce's abilities, however the Actor who took this film for me was up and rising Joe Gilgun who made his character memorable.

Rather derivative and not very clever, the sci-fi prison break movie Lockout is surprisingly enjoyable, in a brain-dead sort of way, mostly thanks to a few lean suspense sequences and the deadpan glory of star, Guy Pearce. The man plays a reluctant hero sent to a space prison to rescue the president's daughter (Maggie Grace) hiding amidst the dangerous inmates. It's like every action, sci-fi cliché rolled into one, and yet the movie is consistently entertaining. Pearce carries the same deadpan gumption throughout; it doesn't matter what's happening, it will not faze him and he has a quip for everything. When the first daughter asks him if her dad had any words to pass along, he quips, "Yeah, you're adopted." The roguish charm of Pearce keeps the movie grounded even when it goes a little nutty with conspiracies, obstacles, and a mad rush of a climax. The movie is set only 40 years or so in the future, and as such it feels too weirdly futuristic for the minimal time jump. Would we really have an orbiting space prison and put prisoners in hyper sleep? Anyway, the movie is a lot more fun and tolerable than I would have expected, and Columbus, Ohio's own Grace (Taken) actually gives the most mature performance of her still young career, for what that's worth. It's not great, but thanks to Pearce, it's pretty passable entertainment, especially for generous genre fans.

Nate's Grade: B-