Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/570058
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 13 SEPTEMBER 2015 38 This Week IN CINEMAS TODAY Embassy Cinemas Valletta Tel. 21 227436, 21 245818 No Escape (15) 10:30, 13:45, 16:05, 18:25, 20:50 Hitman: Agent 47 (15) 10:00, 12:15, 14:30, 16:45, 19:00, 21:15 Pixels (PG) 10:20, 13:45, 16:10, 18:30 Max (12) 10:30, 13:45, 16:10, 18:35, 21:00 The Man from U.N.C.L.E (12) 20:50 Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation (12) 21:10 Ted 2 (15) 16:00, 18:30, 21:00 Inside Out (U) 10:00, 12:15, 14:30, 16:45, 19:00 Eden Cinemas St Julian's Tel. 23 710400 Hitman: Agent 47 (15) 14:00, 16:20, 18:45, 21:00, 23:30 Max (12) 14:05, 16:30, 18:55, 21:15, 23:40 No Escape (15) 14:10, 16:25, 18:45, 21:05, 23:30 Boy Choir (PG) 14:10, 18:50, 23:30 The Cobbler (12) 14:15, 16:25, 18:45, 20:55, 23:15 Inside Out (U) 14:05, 16:20, 18:30 Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (12) 14:30, 18:00, 20:50, 23:35 Straight Outta Compton (15) 14:30, 18:00, 21:15, 23:00 Anti-Social (15) 14:30, 18:20, 20:55, 23:30 Pixels (PG) 14:00, 16:20 (3D) Southpaw (15) 14:15, 18:10, 20:45, 23:30 The Wonders (15) 16:30, 21:05 The Man from U.N.C.L.E (12) 20:55, 23:25 Ted 2 (15) 18:35, 20:45, 23:40 Empire Cinemas Bugibba Tel. 21 581787, 21 581909 Straight Outta Compton (15) 10:30, 13:30, 17:45, 20:45 Southpaw (15) 10:35, 13:15, 15:50, 18:25, 21:00 No Escape (15) 10:55, 13:15, 15:50, 18:05, 20:55 The Cobbler (12) 11:05, 13:25, 15:55, 18:10, 21:00 Hitman (15) 11:00, 13:15, 15:45, 18:00, 20:50 Max (12) 10:45, 13:20, 15:45, 18:15, 20:45 Ted 2 (15) 11:00, 13:30, 15:55, 18:25, 20:55 LIAM Neeson has a lot to answer for. The 'Taken' saga of kidnap-re- venge films that transformed the Irish actor into a bona fide action hero in the latter part of his career ended up being so lucrative, that it not only spawned two logic-defy- ing sequels, but now also appears to have been spiraled into a Holly- wood subgenre in its own right. It appears to be 'no escape' for this tried-and-tested trope then, indeed, as director John Eric Daw- dle (As Above, So Below; Devil; Quarantine) hops on aboard the bandwagon, taking former James Bond Pierce Brosnan and unlikely action star Owen Wilson into the fray with him. When American engineer Jack Dwyer (Owen Wilson) is trans- ferred to Southeast Asia – crucial- ly, an exact country is never speci- fied – along with his wife Annie (Lake Bell) and their two young daughters, he imagines things will proceed largely business-as-usual. But when the family settle into their exotic new location, they find themselves caught in the middle of a political uprising. With their only ally being fellow expat Ham- mond (Pierce Brosnan), Jack tries to keep his family safe from the crossfire. But things heat up further when Jack realizes that they would not only be innocent bystanders. The angry mob aren't just a brainless, ruthless militia – they are protest- ing the excesses of companies like Dwyer's employers Cardiff, whose water-mining excesses have driv- en many locals to the edge of pov- erty. You don't have to be a bleeding- heart lefty to pick up on the film's suspect racist overtones. Never mind the fact that the setting isn't even dignified with an exact location, being a vague, unspeci- fied collage of the dark and exotic 'Far East'. The rebels are never even viewed as human beings at all, and even when their cause is explained-away later on in the film, it comes from the mouth of a supposedly repentant expat. How- ever, Dawdle's pedigree is horror, and it's hardly surprising that the threat to the Dwyer family is por- trayed as a horde of rampaging zombies more than anything else. However, nearly any amount of political incorrectness could be forgiven if the end result is com- pelling. But No Escape comes forward with nothing particularly new or exciting to throw into the mix. It's a perfect example of the kid of lowest common denomi- nator 'slow season' filler that will generally find an audience, but whose most comfortable home would either be the DVD rental shop or late-night TV slot – some- thing to consume when you can't be bothered to look for anything better. This is precisely the problem with riding on prevailing Hol- lywood trends: ticking the right boxes might help you put a movie together with relative ease and just about get your money back, but in the end it is the audience that ends up short-changed. To this end, Dawlde and his col- laborators are more than happy to coast through with stage-man- aged-to-a-fault thrills. Save for a particularly unpleasant – though also facile and over-the-top – set piece near the end, the action is rote, peppered across the film as if by on/off switch: loud bit, quiet bit – repeat. Which is a shame, be- cause Dawdle does show evidence of being competent at manipulat- ing mood and tension. The first instance of the rebel attack that we see – through Jack's eyes – is a truly frightening, immersive sight. Disoriented and annoyed by a lackluster hotel service, Jack steps out of the hotel room in search of an American newspaper, only to emerge to a raging stampede just at the shop's doorstep… Ultimately, however, Dawdle is let down by an uninspired script… which he happens to have written with his brother Drew. The opti- mist may assume that this whole project is a stepping-stone for the sibling pair, and that they opted to go for this easy-and-lucrative route to secure some funds (and, perhaps more importantly, charm Hollywood higher-ups) in aid of a more interesting future project. As it stands, perhaps the only interesting nugget to emerge from all this is the cheeky employment of Pierce Brosnan as the griz- zled but resourceful Englishman, Hammond. A twist towards the end reveals him to essentially be a re-tread of the role that made him world famous, and it's fun to pon- der whether this counts as an 'al- ternative' take on James Bond. But this is slim pickings at best, and can't disguise the fact that the rest of the cast is criminally wasted. Generally an interesting, intelli- gent presence, Lake Bell is reduced to being the mewling, complaining wife who is only there to be men- aced or near-raped, until she can apply some convenient display of force at the eleventh hour. And it seems as though Owen Wilson hasn't learnt his lesson ei- ther. America's perennial quirky nice guy just doesn't do terribly well in action thrillers. For evi- dence, check out the equally bar- gain-bin worthy Behind Enemy Lines (2000). Yes, the Taken saga has plenty to answer for. Just when you thought its third and allegedly final chap- ter has released us from its gaping maw, in comes yet another piece of racially offensive and formally mediocre tripe. Hang on, that's exactly what I wrote in the first paragraph… seems like the threat of repetition is catching. By Teodor Reljic Aggressively mediocre and unrepentantly racist ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ HERE TO STAY ★ ★ ★ ★ STAYING POWER ★ ★ ★ NARROW ESCAPE ★ ★ ESCAPISM ★ RUN FOR YOUR LIFE FILM No escape from mediocrity: Pierce Brosnan and Owen Wilson NO ESCAPE (15) ★ ★