Lockout

I knew Lockout would be a fun unpretentious blast of dumb awesomeness. Check out what I wrote about it earlier this month.

The plot goes like this. Guy Pearce travels to space to rescue the president’s daughter from a maximum security space prison. The prison is inhabited with angry inmates who have woken up extra insane due to the side effects of a chemically induced stasis. The plot moves along so quickly there is no time for logic, gravity or monologues.

All you need to know is that Pearce kills many angry prisoners and makes it to space and back within 90 minutes. He does all of this on Lockout’s meager $20 million budget.

Guy Pearce is wonderful as the bulked up Snow. He is a wise cracking force of nature who excels at blowing stuff up. He delivers powerful headbutts, funny quips and more headbutts.  For instance, right after Snow is informed of the space mission he randomly headbutts a guard into oblivion. What I love is that he levels the guard and nobody cares. It was almost expected that the random guard would get concussed.

Faster than you can say “Apollo 18″ Snow is inside the prison rescuing a bratty yet practical Maggie Grace. Grace becomes endearing because without her Snow couldn’t deliver his cheesy yet beautiful one liners.

Snow: The communications have been cut

Grace: Who did it?

Snow: The transmission fairy.

Snow to Grace: Here is an apple and a gun. Don’t talk to strangers. Shoot them.

When he inspects Maggie Grace’s gun wound he grimaces and says “Ew. Yuck!.”

Lockout is a movie that knows what it is. It is a lean, mean and dumb action machine that wants to entertain the masses. The critics missed the point and dogpiled the obvious gaps in logic. I can imagine an angry film critic sitting alone in a theater and saying “you can’t smoke in space!”

You cannot sit by yourself and watch this movie. Enjoy Lockout with others. Do not cheat yourself out of a fun time.

Lockout is not a good film. It is borderline incoherent and features the worst CGI I’ve seen in a theatrical release since Season of the Witch. However, you will have a good time watching this movie if you choose to turn off your brain and appreciate the Snow fight.