STAR RATINGS EXPLAINED
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FILM DETAILS

Certificate 15

Cast Guy Pearce Vincent Regan Maggie Grace Joseph Gilgun Peter Stormare.

Directors James Mather Stephen St Leger.

Screenwriters James Mather Stephen St. Leger Luc Besson.

Running Time 95 minutes

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Lockout
Lost in space

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Plot
Snow (Pearce) is wrongly convicted of conspiracy and facing prison or worse when the US President’s daughter (Grace) becomes trapped on prison satellite MS-1. With the violent inmates running the space station, it’s up to Snow to get her out safely.

Review
Given how many action films have spun the Die Hard model, it’s perhaps surprising that relatively few have re-purposed Escape From New York. This effort does however, stranding the President’s daughter (Maggie Grace) in an orbital prison and sending maverick Snow (Guy Pearce) up to get her. Pearce proceeds to kick ass, take names, crack wise and thoroughly charm, in a role several degrees lighter than his usual form. He’s up against nut-jobs, cooler psychos and doubting feds; they never stood a chance. The problems are in the direction: a whole swathe of effects work near the beginning is below game standard, and the action scenes never quite achieve the pace and zing they need. Pity: with some extra character beats – or at the very least extra quips – they might have hauled this into cult classic territory.

Verdict
It’s just not quite as much fun as it should be, despite Pearce’s best efforts and some good chemistry with Grace. Unusually for an action thriller, this could have benefited from being just a little longer.


Reviewed by Helen O'Hara

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Your Reviews

Average user rating for Lockout

RE: Lockout

Guy Pearce is excellent in this. Hopefully he'll do more action in the leading role. ... More

Posted by drews at 21:06, 25 July 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Lockout

An enjoyable action film. 4/5 ... More

Posted by NCC1701A at 08:42, 23 July 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Lockout

really enjoyed this film - just a good dumb action movie. ... More

Posted by buffster28 at 11:35, 22 July 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Lockout

Lockout Hmmm dare I say a Die Hard clone in space? I don't wanna go there I really don't but I think I may have to slightly go there. 'Die Hard' with some continental Besson flare. That flare being evident in the rather short swish high speed bike chase sequence at the start that seems to be a curious blend of videogame and live action comicbook visuals. Either that or its just poor cgi, not sure, looked kinda neat though. Of course its not exactly 'Die Hard' in space but once the act... More

Posted by Phubbs at 07:00, 13 July 2012 | Report This Post

Lockout Review

Guy Pearce does the best he can with what he's given, but Lockout is ultimately too derivative and shallow to build on the many sci-fi thrillers it borrows from. It should have been more fun. ... More

Posted by the film man at 16:21, 05 May 2012 | Report This Post

rockinng LOCK-OUT

a few minor problems but an overall sucess ... More

Posted by bridges at 22:58, 04 May 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Just....nah!

Saw it earlier. It was pretty crap. ... More

Posted by nhassell at 01:22, 27 April 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Just....nah!

Enjoyed this, not as much as I thought I would but I wasn't massively disappointed. Guy Pearce was great and I enjoyed Gilgun's performance as well ... More

Posted by musht at 19:57, 24 April 2012 | Report This Post

Just....nah!

In many ways Lockout is a throwback to those dime-a-dozen dystopian sci-fi flicks from the early 90's like Fortress, No Escape, Johnny Mneumonic and .....ugh, Super Mario Bros. Its crud, no doubt but Guy Pearce and his snarky quips manage to avoid it becoming a total dog. The CGI effects though are just awful, especially the brief highway chase and the space/skyfall climax (which is truly dreadful to watch) it looks like it was all processed on someone's laptop. Luc Besson has really become a ... More

Posted by alsybroth at 19:10, 21 April 2012 | Report This Post

ACE!

How Salmon Fishing can be given a better rating than this is beyond me! Despite some dodgy CGI at the start of this film, this is a great no-brainer with strong performances from all the cast. Highly enjoyable and definetly recomended! ... More

Posted by J_BUltimatum at 16:12, 21 April 2012 | Report This Post

I would probably give this a 3 1/2 star as I tend to rate them out of 10 (7 in this instance). From seeing the trailers I knew what type of film this was going to be and as long as you're in the right mood for it this film was really quite good. The leading characters played well together and some truly amusing lines and situations. The effects let it down a bit in places, especially the bike chase near the start, but the feel of the whole movie was good and I would definitely try to see it a... More

Posted by merryelf at 12:36, 21 April 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Lockout

Just seen Lockout - leave brain in the foyer and enjoy the film.   Not made to be taken seriously - great to have Scottish villains in Space.   Will be a cult classic in the east end of Glasgow. ... More

Posted by Sid_Ney at 16:24, 20 April 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Review

Maybe someone with more of an industry "in" than I have can tell me why "Escape from Earth" was made with Mike from Neighbours and not Snake Plissken. I can't see that Kurt Russell is too old for this shit after all, and it seems to me that this is, for all intents and purposes, what Carpenter was going to do for the third Snake Plissken movie. And Mike from Neighbours doesn't even have heroic 80s hair any more. How can you break into a prison facility to rescue someone without having heroic 80... More

Posted by Russ Whitfield at 13:50, 20 April 2012 | Report This Post

Review

Darn! Oh well.. But then again TAKEN was made by the same people and some fool rated that 1 star??? ... More

Posted by blindfold at 12:18, 20 April 2012 | Report This Post

Review

Darn! Oh well.. But then again TAKEN was made by the same people and some fool rated that 1 star??? ... More

Posted by blindfold at 12:18, 20 April 2012 | Report This Post

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