ESCAPE FROM L.A.
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1996 Michael John Legeros
(Paramount) Directed by John Carpenter Written by John Carpenter, Debra Hill, and Kurt Russell Cast Kurt Russell, A.J. Langer, Steve Buscemi, Georges Corraface, Stacy Keach, Michelle Forbes, Pam Grier, Jeff Imada, Cliff Robertson, Valeria Golino, Peter Fonda MPAA Rating "R" (presumably for language and violence) Running Time 100 minutes Reviewed at General Cinemas at Pleasant Valley, Raleigh, NC (9AUG96)
==
In this better-late-than-never sequel to his 1981 cult classic ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, director John Carpenter has envisioned the future of Los Angeles as an island penal colony for America's least wanted. In the year 2013, any citizen caught engaging in acts illegal, immoral, or fattening is expelled from the country. That is, unless they choose electrocution over deportation. Zap. Into this picture steps "Snake" Plissken (Kurt Russell), that one-eyed, whispering wonder who, again, is in the custody of the United States Police Force. Like last time, the deal goes something like this: Snake has ten hours to land on Los Angeles Island, recover a mysterious "black box" that was stolen by the President's radical daughter, and return with the goods in hand. If he's a good boy, he'll be given both a pardon and an antidote to the deadly virus that he's been intentionally infected with. Sound familiar?
In addition to the ripe right-wing references and about a thousand brutal barbs aimed at Southern California-- how well will jokes about aftershocks, immigrants, and plastic surgery play in Peoria, anyway?-- we're also treated to such schlocky sights as a collapsed Capital Records building, a sunken Santa Monica Freeway, and an underwater Universal Studios. Just ask for Babs. The tone is expectedly tongue- in-cheek and a spirit of anarchy pervades nearly every scene. And, yet, even with a super-cool supporting cast (Peter Fonda, Steve Buscemi, Pam Grier, to name a few), the movie just doesn't *move*. Call it what you will-- flat, under-powered, a long sit, slower than a slow-moving white Bronco-- but ESCAPE FROM L.A. is a risky recommendation at best. Unless you're a fan of the original, you might want to skip this one.
Grade: C+
--
Mike Legeros - Raleigh, NC
legeros@nando.net (h) - legeros@unx.sas.com (w)
Visit me in MOVIE HELL
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews