Escape Plan 2: Hades

Last time there was a prison escape, Sly had august company — Arnie. That was way back in 2013 and it punched in an impact, what with action stalwarts like Stallone and Schwarzenegger helming the show.

This time round, five years later, there is only Stallone, a much more aged version of himself. Him, and a band of fighters with no legacy. Him, and a prison which is much too high-tech to evince keen interest.

The goings-on here are too puzzling to enjoy the thrill of an escape. The computer-induced mumbo-jumbo intrudes on all the fun we could have had with Sly. His players have all the skills to escape — the fitness and the muscles and all that — but not the mojo of Stallone who has a somewhat starved presence in the film.

He gets into action much later, actually much into the second half by which time the viewers have had enough of the laser beamed prison run by a rogue sleuth from Sly’s team, somewhere in Atlanta as we come to know much later. Why and how of this manic prison where you have to win fights to get time out are unexplained.

On the whole, this one is a wishy-washy film even for action junkies. Violence is gruesome but mostly aimlessly playing to the gallery. To top it, there is a window for Plan 3 sometime later in the years. Maybe by then Arnie and Sly will team up again with their swagger and signature wryness.

Source: Sunday Pioneer, 1 July, 2018