Escape Plan 3

Escape Plan, released in 2013, was an action movie staring Sylvester Stallone as an expert prison escape artist alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and 50 Cent. On the whole, the film was an exciting and entertaining watch, with scenes of comic dialogue and engrossing action proving successful enough to rake in $137 million at the box office and warrant a sequel – Escape Plan 2: Hades. Safe to say it was at this point the series took a tumble and not a small one. In all honesty, no one can be blamed for not even knowing a second film existed before establishing that a further third picture is now being released, but here we are. Which jail shall Stallone be breaking out of this time? Well actually, he will be breaking in…

After a mobile tech mogul’s daughter is kidnapped and held hostage in a high-security and rule-less Latvian prison, Ray Breslin (Stallone) finds himself plunged into the underworld once again as he is hired to extract not only the target but also his girlfriend Abigail (Jaime King). Bringing back the old team, Ray, Trent (Bautista) and Hush (50 Cent) must use all their wit, experience and skill to save the lives of those held hostage, all the while piecing together the reason why these events are unravelling.

First thing’s first, don’t watch this movie expecting to witness any John Wick-level badassery and fight scenes that will make viewers jump out of their seats. The action here is about as messy as it gets, with characters’ hand-to-hand combat cut and chopped left, right and centre into a final amalgamation that makes any of the direction impossible to follow. There are more fight scenes in this movie than genuinely important dialogue and if that is what you have come to see then so be it, but it doesn’t make the cogs of the film turn like a well-oiled machine. Of course, the martial artists recruited for this picture excellently demonstrate how talented they are at their craft,

The dialogue is corny, clunky and lacklustre, constructed into a script that barely caters for the characters that we all enjoyed the most in sequels prior. 50 Cent? No, don’t need him for more than 30 seconds. Dave Bautista? No, don’t bother with him either unless its shooting bad guys. Instead, focus entirely on mindless action that results in good vs bad conclusions that the audience ultimately could care little about because there has been no character development. Stallone is again his usual self, only this time the conviction that he really can continue doing these roles at his age is beginning to waver, despite the onscreen support from Dave Bautista, who provides the more awesome moments along with Daniel Bernhardt.

There must clearly be a market for this franchise given that a third instalment was deemed necessary, but it is still tricky to identify. Escape Plan 3 brings nothing new to the table apart from a conclusion to a series of films that need not have existed following the first. As this movie closes, Ray tells Trent “No more prisons”, and for the viewer’s sake, that really would be for the best.

Guy Lambert

Escape Plan 3 is released nationwide and on Digital HD on 5^th July 2019.

Watch the trailer for Escape Plan 3 here: