Escape Plan (2013)(Minor Spoilers Review)

**This review contains MINOR spoilers, no character deaths, big twists, or major reveals**

As a modern day Houdini, Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone) is a former prosecutor, who studies and escapes from maximum security prisons to exploit any weaknesses in the system (the guard’s routine, security cameras, keypad locks, etc.). Abigail (Amy Ryan) and Hush (Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson) work together as Ray’s support team, and Lester Clark (Vincent D’Onofrio) is Ray’s manager.

Ray is widely regarded as a precise expert with a flawless track record, but things change, when Ray ponders a lucrative proposal for a new mission. CIA agent Jessica Miller (Caitriona Balfe) promises Ray and his team a five million dollar pay day, if Ray agrees to infiltrate The Tomb, an impenetrable and hi-tech top secret prison used to contain the most vile criminals on Earth. Abigail and Hush are uneasy about the sketchy and vague details, but Clark is more concerned about missing the once in a lifetime opportunity to collect a five million dollar paycheck, so after some prodding from Clark, Ray accepts the mission.

At The Tomb, Ray is confused, when he meets Warden Willard Hobbes (Jim Caviezel), because Ray was expecting Warden Roger Marsh, but Warden Hobbes reassures Ray Warden Marsh doesn’t exist. And the situation becomes more complex, when Hobbes dismisses Ray’s fake evacuation code.

With no one else to turn to, Ray teams up with Emil Rottmayer (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a fellow inmate, who promises to help Ray escape The Tomb. Emil uses his influence as the head honcho within the prison to provide Ray with the necessary resources, and using morality as the basis for his arguments, Ray reaches out to a reluctant and fearful Dr. Kyrie (Sam Neill) for help.

Ray must endure taunting and savage beatings from Drake (Vinnie Jones), Hobbes’ Chief Of Security, and time is running out, as a suspicious Hobbes vows to derail Breslin’s plans for an escape, with the promise of imprisoning Breslin in The Tomb until his final breath.

Schwarzenegger and Stallone share easy chemistry, as a duo of grizzled tough guys, who are looking for a good fight. The approach of using Schwarzenegger as the muscle and Stallone as the brains of the operation really works, because having both men portray lethal ass-kicking machines would’ve been a counterproductive move. Constantly watching a barrage of scenes featuring Arine and Sly breaking necks and firing large guns every five minutes? Yeah, the onslaught of thuggery would reach a “too tiresome” point after a while, but with Arnie doing most of the dirty work (Sly isn’t afraid to roll up his sleeves and fight every now and then), and Stallone pulling the strings, you get a chance to see more variety, when comparing and contrast the personalities between Breslin and Rottmayer. Plus, Arnie and Sly provide some good laughs during their sporadic back and forth arguments, and Arnie is hilarious in a handful of scenes without Sly (i.e. the waterboarding scene, and the scene in the box with Hobbes, where Rottmayer spouts random nonsense to give Ray more time with his plan).

Jim Caviezel is a nice fit for the primary antagonist. Warden Hobbes is a cocky and ruthless dictator with no mercy, and Caviezel brings the essential commanding presence to this character. Vinnie Jones is solid, as the grimacing hard-ass, Amy Ryan isn’t bad as Abigail, but her screen time is limited to sporadic appearances, and 50 Cent is harmless as Hush. And Vincent D’Onofrio is believably pompous as Clark.


In a lot of ways, Escape Plan caught me off guard. I was expecting a loud and over the top action flick with a bunch of explosions and cheesy one-liners from Arnie and Sly (well, you’ll hear some one-liners, but they never reach the point of overkill). Instead, Escape Plan is a crafty prison-break thriller with a few satisfying twists, and the action sequences are enjoyable. The duo of Stallone and Schwarzenegger should provide the necessary nostalgia kick for action fans, because I had a good time watching the old warhorses team up for a risky fight. It’s hard to ignore the eye rolling preposterous moments here, but if you’re looking for some good fun with two action legends, Escape Plan won‘t disappoint you.

Rating: 7/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into my special world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in this collection of short stories- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

Remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

Escape Plan (2013)(Spoiler Review)

**This review contains spoilers**

As a modern day Houdini, Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone) is a former prosecutor, who studies and escapes from maximum security prisons to exploit any weaknesses in the system (the guard’s routine, security cameras, keypad locks, etc.). Abigail (Amy Ryan) and Hush (Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson) work together as Ray’s support team, and Lester Clark (Vincent D’Onofrio) is Ray’s manager.

Ray is widely regarded as a precise expert with a flawless track record, but things change, when Ray ponders a lucrative proposal for a new mission. CIA agent Jessica Miller (Caitriona Balfe) promises Ray and his team a five million dollar pay day, if Ray agrees to infiltrate The Tomb, an impenetrable and hi-tech top secret prison used to contain the most vile criminals on Earth. Abigail and Hush are uneasy about the sketchy and vague details, but Clark is more concerned about missing the once in a lifetime opportunity to collect a five million dollar paycheck, so after some prodding from Clark, Ray accepts the mission.

At The Tomb, Ray is confused, when he meets Warden Willard Hobbes (Jim Caviezel), because Ray was expecting Warden Roger Marsh, but Warden Hobbes reassures Ray Warden Marsh doesn’t exist. And the situation becomes more complex, when Hobbes dismisses Ray’s fake evacuation code.

With no one else to turn to, Ray teams up with Emil Rottmayer (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a fellow inmate, who promises to help Ray escape The Tomb. Emil uses his influence as the head honcho within the prison to provide Ray with the necessary resources, and using morality as the basis for his arguments, Ray reaches out to a reluctant and fearful Dr. Kyrie (Sam Neill) for help.

Ray must endure taunting and savage beatings from Drake (Vinnie Jones), Hobbes’ Chief Of Security, and time is running out, as a suspicious Hobbes vows to derail Breslin’s plans for an escape, with the promise of imprisoning Breslin in The Tomb until his final breath.

Schwarzenegger and Stallone share easy chemistry, as a duo of grizzled tough guys, who are looking for a good fight. The approach of using Schwarzenegger as the muscle and Stallone as the brains of the operation really works, because having both men portray lethal ass-kicking machines would’ve been a counterproductive move. Constantly watching a barrage of scenes featuring Arine and Sly breaking necks and firing large guns every five minutes? Yeah, the onslaught of thuggery would reach a “too tiresome” point after a while, but with Arnie doing most of the dirty work (Sly isn’t afraid to roll up his sleeves and fight every now and then), and Stallone pulling the strings, you get a chance to see more variety, when comparing and contrast the personalities between Breslin and Rottmayer. Plus, Arnie and Sly provide some good laughs during their sporadic back and forth arguments, and Arnie is hilarious in a handful of scenes without Sly (i.e. the waterboarding scene, and the scene in the box with Hobbes, where Rottmayer spouts random nonsense to give Ray more time with his plan).

Jim Caviezel is a nice fit for the primary antagonist. Warden Hobbes is a cocky and ruthless dictator with no mercy, and Caviezel brings the essential commanding presence to this character. Vinnie Jones is solid, as the grimacing hard-ass, Amy Ryan isn’t bad as Abigail, but her screen time is limited to sporadic appearances, and 50 Cent is harmless as Hush. Vincent D’Onofrio is believably pompous as Clark, and D'Onofrio's character takes a slimy turn (more on that later) as the story progresses.

Where is The Tomb? Ray’s an expert and Rottmayer has connections, but if they’re going to plan an escape, they NEED to know where they are. Rottmayer is able to cause a distraction after a calamity in the solitary confinement cells. Meanwhile, Ray is able to climb a ladder that leads to the outside. And what does Ray see outside? Water. Lots of water. Why? Well, The Tomb is a prison on a freighter ship, and the freighter ship is currently located in the Atlantic Ocean.

A nice shock. It’s almost impossible to pinpoint the location of The Tomb. A few times, I thought I was near “Getting warmer” territory, but The Tomb being on ship? Yeah, I didn’t see that one coming. And to add the icing on the cake, there’s a zooming out shot of Stallone standing on the deck by himself with this hopeless and devastated look on his face. Good stuff.

With some help from Rottmayer’s connections, a volunteering inmate (Javed, portrayed by Faran Tahir), and Dr. Kyrie, Ray and Emil finally escape The Tomb in a helicopter. Ray manages to fire series of shots into a group of oil barrels to kill Hobbes, while clinging to the broken ladder on the helicopter. Hobbes burns to death in the oil fire, and together, Ray and Emil safely land on a beach in Morocco. Here, Ray learns the truth about Emil: Agent Miller is Emil’s daughter, and she used the cover of a CIA agent to fool Ray and his team. Emil’s real name is Victor Mannheim. Long story short, Mannheim was supposed to be Emil’s boss/primary connection for help on the outside, so Emil as Rottmayer was just a cover. And Miller gave Ray the codename “Portos” to alert Mannheim of Ray’s presence as an ally.

Rottamyer as Mannheim is a surprising twist, but I wouldn’t call it shocking. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to sit here and pretend I saw this coming, because I didn’t. BUT after all the trickery and clever deception, I was expecting a bigger bang for Escape Plan’s final set of twists. I was hoping for a lobster dinner with steak on the side, but instead, I got fresh pepperoni pizza.

Remember Clark? Clark was offered an annual five million dollar salary to keep Ray stuck in The Tomb for the rest of his life. Of course, Clark hid this information from everyone else. Towards the end, Clark tries to escape with all the money, but Hush catches him in a parking garage. Hush is able to capture Clark, and he locks Clark in his car………and the car is stuck in a container on a departing cargo ship. The last moments of the movie feature a desperate and frantic attempt at an escape from Clark, while Clark is cursing Ray’s name. This scene put a smile on my face. Why? Because Clark was a snaky, backstabbing little weasel, and he finally got what he deserved in the end.

In a lot of ways, Escape Plan caught me off guard. I was expecting a loud and over the top action flick with a bunch of explosions and cheesy one-liners from Arnie and Sly (well, you’ll hear some one-liners, but they never reach the point of overkill). Instead, Escape Plan is a crafty prison-break thriller with a few satisfying twists, and the action sequences are enjoyable. The duo of Stallone and Schwarzenegger should provide the necessary nostalgia kick for action fans, because I had a good time watching the old warhorses team up for a risky fight. It’s hard to ignore the eye rolling preposterous moments here, but if you’re looking for some good fun with two action legends, Escape Plan won‘t disappoint you.

Rating: 7/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into my special world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in this collection of short stories- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

Remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

The Frozen Ground (2013)(Minor Spoilers Review)

**This review contains MINOR spoilers, no plot twists, big reveals or character deaths**

In 1983, Sergeant Jack Halcombe (Nicolas Cage) leads an investigation in Anchorage, Alaska to catch a merciless serial killer. The killer targets young women and prostitutes by luring them to his home. Here, the killer beats, tortures, and rapes his victims. To fulfill his sadistic blood lust, the killer forces his broken victims into the wilderness for a hunting game with no realistic chances of escape.

Halcombe pursues the killer with help of Cindy Paulson (Vanessa Hudgens), a seventeen year old runaway turned prostitute, who escaped the clutches of the killer after a struggle. Robert (or “Bob”) Hansen (John Cusack) is the prime suspect, but Hansen is a father of two, the owner/manager of a popular bakery, and he’s a respected member of the community, so Halcombe’s going to have a tough time trying to convince his peers of Hansen living a double-life as a cold-blooded killer.

Halcombe races against the clock to stop Hansen’s murderous rampage, and Halcmobe is tormented by the possibility of breaking a promise to his wife, Allie (Radha Mitchell). Meanwhile, without help or a reliable support system, Cindy is stuck in a trap with her pimp, Clate (50 Cent). Will Halcombe catch Hansen before it’s too late?

Nicolas Cage leads the way for this cast with a solid and convincing performance in the leading role. Hudgens deserves a lot of credit for a strong effort as Cindy. Embracing Cindy’s trashy look and persona helped, and Hudgens was able to show some believable welded tears. 50 Cent? Yeah, I can’t say too much about him. His character is the stereotypical street pimp, and that’s about it. And Mitchell doesn’t receive a significant amount of screen time, just a few sporadic appearances here and there, that’s it. Cusack is menacing, as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He showcased his versatility with the portrayal of a seemingly innocnet father and husband, and Cusack smoothly switches gears to the callous murderer in the blink of an eye.

I didn’t have a big problem with The Frozen Ground, but I can’t ignore the truth: The Frozen Ground is another generic and formulaic murder mystery/drama film based on true events. You can see every twist and turn coming from a mile away, and they slowly go through the motions step by step until the credits start rolling. At times, The Frozen Ground is a laborious chore to sit through, and the one hour and forty five minutes runtime feels like a LONG three hours, because I can’t count the number of times I checked the clock with an exasperated “Is it over yet?” look.

Still, I won’t go with a negative score. The Frozen Ground is harmless, and more importantly, without a strong and admirable effort from Hudgens, and two solid performances from the veterans (Cage and Cusack), The Frozen Ground could’ve been a lot worse.

Rating: 5/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into my special world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in this collection of short stories- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

And remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

Follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

And don't forget to like both of my Facebook pages, because the Mitch MacReady 2 Facebook page includes quotes from both ebooks that can't fit into Tweets- https://www.facebook.com/mitch.macready

The Frozen Ground (2013)(Spoiler Review)

**This review contains spoilers**

In 1983, Sergeant Jack Halcombe (Nicolas Cage) leads an investigation in Anchorage, Alaska to catch a merciless serial killer. The killer targets young women and prostitutes by luring them to his home with money. Here, the killer beats, tortures, and rapes his victims. To fulfill his sadistic blood lust, the killer forces his broken victims into the wilderness for a hunting game with no realistic chances of escape.

Sergeant Halcombe is stuck on a dead end road, until a young Cindy Paulson (Vanessa Hudgens) changes everything. At the age of seventeen, Cindy is a runaway, who works as a prostitute, but Cindy refuses a polygraph, and Cindy is terrified at the thought of testifying in court. Halcombe reopens closed cases for murders linked to the killer, and Halcombe’s research leads him to one man. Robert (or “Bob”) Hansen (John Cusack) is the prime suspect, but Hansen is a respected and popular member of the community. Hansen is a married man with two children, and he’s the owner/manager of a local bakery, so Halcombe’s going to have a tough time trying to convince his peers of Hansen living a double-life as a cold-blooded killer.

Cindy is stuck in the clutches of her pimp, Clate (50 Cent), and with two weeks left in his tenure as Sergeant, Halcombe races against the clock to put Hansen behind bars. Holcombe promised his wife, Allie (Radha Mitchell) a new life after quitting the force, but after his conscience kicks in, Halcombe refuses to leave the case unsolved.

Hansen will do anything to stop Cindy from talking, and Halcombe runs into some trouble for acquiring the essential search warrant from the District Attorney, Pat Clives (Kurt Fuller). Meanwhile, Cindy descends into a downward spiral of drug abuse, and misery at her new job as a stripper. Will Halcombe catch Hansen before it’s too late?

Nicolas Cage leads the way for this cast with a solid and convincing performance in the leading role. Hudgens deserves a lot of credit for a strong effort as Cindy. Embracing Cindy’s trashy look and persona helped, and Hudgens was able to show some believable welded tears. 50 Cent? Yeah, I can’t say too much about him. His character is the stereotypical street pimp, and that’s about it. And Mitchell doesn’t receive a significant amount of screen time, just a few sporadic appearances here and there, that’s it. Cusack is menacing, as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He showcased his versatility with the portrayal of a seemingly innocnet father and husband, and Cusack smoothly switches gears to the callous murderer in the blink of an eye.

Hard to pick out a true “moment” in The Frozen Ground, but if I had to go with one, I would choose the scene where Cindy finally confronts Robert after the rape. We’re in the final moments of the movie, and Halcombe has Hansen backed into a corner, but Cindy is the clincher. Hansen is forced to endure INTENSE pressure during the interrogations……and Cindy walks through the door . Cindy wanted to prove she wasn’t afraid of Hansen anymore, and the sight of Cindy enraged Hansen. During a nasty tirade, Hansen was disgusted at himself for letting Cindy slip through his fingers, and after Hansen’s outburst, Halcombe finally had the (unintentional) testimony he was looking for.

There was a sense of relief during this scene, because The Frozen Ground constantly teased the possibility of Hansen escaping without any problems towards the end. Hansen thought he was brilliant. He was confident he would walk as a free man with no problems, so watching this despicable lowlife crumble under his own diabolical ego provided the highlight for rewarding moments in The Frozen Ground. Hansen’s lawyer has this shocked look on his face, everyone in the room is speechless, and Cindy refuses to break eye contact with Hansen. You can feel the tension, and it’s almost impossible to ignore the disturbed mood in this scene.

I didn’t have a big problem with The Frozen Ground, but I can’t ignore the truth: The Frozen Ground is another generic and formulaic murder mystery/drama film based on true events. You can see every twist and turn coming from a mile away, and they slowly go through the motions step by step until the credits start rolling. At times, The Frozen Ground is a laborious chore to sit through, and the one hour and forty five minutes runtime feels like a LONG three hours, because I can’t count the number of times I checked the clock with an exasperated “Is it over yet?” look.

Still, I won’t go with a negative score. The Frozen Ground is harmless, and more importantly, without a strong and admirable effort from Hudgens, and two solid performances from the veterans (Cage and Cusack), The Frozen Ground could’ve been a lot worse.

Rating: 5/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into my special world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in this collection of short stories- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

And remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

Follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

And don't forget to like both of my Facebook pages, because the Mitch MacReady 2 Facebook page includes quotes from both ebooks that can't fit into Tweets- https://www.facebook.com/mitch.macready