Director: James Mather & Stephen Saint-Leger
Talent: Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace
Release Date: April 20th 2012
Saint & Mather, the Irish born double act have now made it to the big screen with their new sci-fi thriller – Lockout. A maximum security prison, seized by the inmates along with the visiting president’s daughter Warnack (Grace) whose only hope of rescue now lies with the wise-cracking special agent Snow (Pearce) who in turn must rescue this dame in distress in order to gain his freedom. Added to this the fact that the prison is actually in space and you’ve got one helluva movie premise.
Visually and stylistically Saint & Maher have borrowed alot from their short “Prey Alone”, an astonishing achievement of shoe-string budgets and stunning visuals. The opening scene of Lockout in particular – which reinforces the directors’ penchant for interrogation scenes – with its heroic stand off charm and wit would make Joss Whedon proud.
There are some great one-liners sprinkled throughout and exquisitely original death scenes – specifically, killing a man with a bike lock explosive around his neck – awesome. The sets look amazing and apart from one dodgy bit of CGI (the motorway sequence which just doesn’t fit visually with the film) it’s a lovely nod to the Besson realm of science fiction and Snake Plissken styled dialogue. But after a while the tongue and cheek becomes overbearing and aspects of the plot begin to fall apart faster than the decaying space prison.
Guy Pearce is a lovable wise cracking covert ace whilst Maggie Grace holds her own as the damsel in distress however the lack of a singular well crafted bad guy is the most disappointing whilst the hinting at some interesting topics but never really exploring them – namely, trials for deep space exploration – muddies the water as to what kind of film it’s trying to be.
Fun but forgettable – premise outshines delivery here.
Words: Joseph Orr
