By: Cynthia A.

Directed By: Mikael Håfström

Screenplay By: Miles Chapman & Jason Keller

Story By: Miles Chapman 

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Caviezel, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Vinnie Jones, Sam Niell, Vincent D’Onofrio & Amy Ryan

Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger are back again for another action packed and thrilling adventure.  Rambo and the Terminator have teamed up yet again to break out of Prison.  Stallone stars as Ray Breslin, an ex-prosecutor who has made it his life’s ambition to make sure that all prisons are breakout proof.  Then he finds himself betrayed by his employer and sent to a high tech facility off the grid built by his own designs.  And as the game of cat and mouse ensues, he finds himself trapped by his own design.

Before I get into the movie I would just like to state that I did not recognize 50 Cent at all.  He surprised me and when I realized that it was him I was blown away by his performance.  It was executed wonderfully and his character was just well written.  The glasses, that always works to hide who someone is, always works every time.

Now, onto the movie.  Many people often wonder why Stallone and Schwarzenegger are still in the action business.  It’s because they still have it.  The pair of them have made that their niche and let’s face it, they both are in great shape to continue doing what they are doing.  Moreover, this wasn’t just an action movie just for the sake of having an action movie.  It had a story that had depth.  This was a survival story, a story about the rights of man and the abuse of power and funds.  That gave it so much.  So pretty much, it was a story about freedom.  As cliché as that may sound or be, it is what it is.

This movie had me at the edge of my seat.  Stallone and Schwarzenegger are trying to escape a quite possible inescapable prison.  You’re rooting for them as they fight their way out back to their families.  It was a rush.  Every time you think Stallone is going to be caught, every time you think he’s going to die or break, you’re just so relieved that he isn’t.  The writing for this movie was great and the execution of it with plot twist after plot twist was great.

Now, onto the acting.  Jim Caviezel was a brilliant evil genius.  The facial expressions, the slight smirk to the look in his eyes when he was plotting something was captivating.  You knew he was evil, you knew he was up to something diabolical.  His body language as well was subtle; the little actions he did highlighted his god complex.  That right there was brilliant direction coupled with brilliant action.  This movie was more than just an action movie; it was a thrill ride and showed us once again that Schwarzenegger and Stallone still got the stuff.  Schwarzenegger was hilarious and scary and well, as always, awesome. 

My only problem was there was a little too much swearing for my taste.  Some of it was placed in the dialogue very well, but most of it was superfluous.  Unnecessary addition to an otherwise well written movie. 

Catch it before it’s gone folks.  ★★★☆ (B)