Welcome return to form for Arnie and Sly

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone unite in action flick ‘Escape Plan’.

Stallone’s character Ray Breslin is somewhat of an escapologist. He runs a security firm and has made a career of breaking out of the most heavily fortified prisons in the world. He and business partner Lester Clark (Vincent D’Onofrio) are offered a lucrative contract from the CIA to test a top secret experimental jail. Preparing for the mission, Ray is kidnapped and brought to ‘the tomb’; a new maximum security penitentiary in an unknown location. The warden is crooked, the guards are faceless, masked enforcers and the inhabitants are among the worst in the world. Inside, Ray meets a German inmate, Emil Rottmayer (Schwarzenegger), who can get results and who may be able to aid in an escape.

With its prison setting, hardened criminals and corrupt warden, ‘Escape Plan’ reminded me of Stallone’s earlier film ‘Lock Up’ (1989). ‘Escape Plan’ had the balance of action and tongue in cheek humour you’d expect from an Arnie and Stallone film. Beyond that, is an occasionally suspenseful plot of prison life and escape. Look out for cameos from Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson, Vinnie Jones and Sam Neill.