Starring: Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, Vincent Regan, Joseph Gilgun, Lennie James, and Peter Stormare
April is really a filler month in the box office schedule that's hit-or-miss for moviegoers. More often than not, the release schedule is filled with crap. The heavy hitters released in March are still hanging around in theaters, and the new stuff is just the preamble to the summer blockbuster season. The futuristic thriller Lockout is just another piece of crappy filmmaking keeping theaters busy until summertime.
Snow (Guy Pearce) is an ex-CIA agent who has been double-crossed while helping out a former colleague on a mission. When he's betrayed and his friend is killed, Snow takes out a couple of assailants and escapes with a valuable briefcase supposedly containing some government secrets. Before he's captured and taken into custody by the Secret Service led by Chief Scott Langral (Peter Stormare), he gives a briefcase to his backup Mace (Tim Plester). Facing charges for treason, he will soon be sent to MS1, a prison that orbits the earth where criminals are sedated while incarcerated.
Meanwhile, Emilie Warnock (Maggie Grace), daughter of the US President, goes to MS1 on a philanthropic trip. Unfortunately, a prisoner named Hydell (Joseph Gilgun) starts a breakout. Lawlessness ensues, and the future of Emilie and all those onboard the space jail MS1 is in jeopardy. Naturally, the President (Peter Hudson) wants to save his daughter and will do anything to get her back home safely. However, sending in the cavalry with guns blazing won't get the job done safely. He tasks Scott Langral and Secret Service agent Harry Shaw (Lennie James) with convincing the one man who can go up there and save his daughter to do so—Snow.
Lockout is a film full of countless clichés, cheap graphics, and annoying characters. As Marion Snow, Guy Pearce plays a stereotypical macho jerk. He just doesn't have the charisma to make the audience like him, and his character really seems like an annoying asshole. As Emilie Warnock, Maggie Grace plays the stereotypical damsel in distress. Her best moments in the film are those moments when she’s not speaking. Whenever Grace speaks, you realize that her character is just an irritating weakling who adds no value to the film.
The graphics in Lockout are some of the crappiest I've seen in quite a while. They are quite cartoonish and just make this bad film worse. Beyond the cheap graphics, everything in Lockout is entirely predictable. I called the "big twist" at the beginning of the movie. There is not one damn thing that goes right with this flick.
Lockout is ultimately no better than some cheap TV movie you would watch on Syfy to pass the time. This sci-fi thriller is one flick I have no interest in seeing again. Get your shot glasses ready and grab some Liquid Marijuana Shots. There's no way in hell you'd get through this one without being wasted.
