Lockout

I groaned inwardly when "Lockout" started.  It's yet another industrial-looking grimy sci-fi movie, featuring a moody hero named "Snow" (Guy Pearce) who is sent against his will to an outer-space penitentiary in which the President's daughter is being held as a hostage.  Hey!  Wait a bloody minute!   That is NEARLY the plot of "Escape from New York"!  And Guy Pearce is totally doing Kurt Russell!  Whoops, let me rephrase that....

Anyway, Snow shows some reluctance to go on the mission ("I'd rather castrate myself with blunt rocks") but is coerced into doing it by a bent copper.  And it was at this point I realised that yes, "Lockout" is derivative and stupid but in the GOOD way.  The script is peppered with lots of funny lines and Guy Pearce is really good as Snake, I mean Snow.

PLUS - ALSO - IN ADDITION TO THIS - the psychotic inmates of the penitentiary are lead by a couple of Weegie blokes!  They are hilarious!  Our favourite was played by a bloke named Joseph Gilgun who is also in Misfits which is a show I do not watch.  But he's terrific and definitely someone to watch out for.  And makes the most of lines like, "If you're going to sh*t yourself, now would be the perfect time, wouldn't it?"

So the rest of the film is a frantic chase around the space-station with psycho inmates in hot pursuit with Snow proving himself not particularly competent or sympathetic as a rescuer, but the feisty President's daughter is more than a match for him.  It's written & produced by Luc Besson, so if you enjoyed his previous movies, you know what to expect.  As for me, this was a great surprise and I found myself thoroughly enjoying it.  And the revelation about Snow's actual name is a hoot.

Finally, "Lockout" is really short, so even if you hate it, you only get to be cross with me for recommending it for 90 minutes.