Lockout DVD and Film Review

Having recently published my Get the Gringo DVD and Movie Review, Lockout is the perfect follow up. Both have gritty, wise cracking tough guys who find themselves having to escape from a dangerous prison. Which film did it better? Well, Get the Gringo, starring Mel Gibson, was undoubtedly the better movie. However, the Lockout DVD certainly has its place in a lazy Friday or Saturday night-in situation. It’s the perfect movie to squirm in your seat, yell at the bad guy and occasionally laugh at the blatant plot holes.

Movie viewers have all seen Guy Pearce's work some point. He has an extremely varied film portfolio, including a drag queen in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, a by-the-book LAPD officer in L.A. Confidential, an anterograde amnesiac in Memento, a swinging King Edward in the King’s Speech, and many more. However, you’ve never seen him like this. In Lockout Pearce takes a memorable turn as Snow, a wisecracking and pumped up CIA agent in 2079.

Playing the part of damsel-in-distress/kidnapped president’s daughter, is Maggie Gray, the damsel-in-distress/kidnapped daughter from Taken. Leading the prison revolt is Vincent Regan as the sometimes pragmatic but usually ruthless Alex and Joseph Gilgun as the psychotic Hydell. Peter Stormare plays Scott Langral, the ambiguous Chief of the Secret Service and Lennie James is Harry Shaw, a secret service agent.

Lockout’s cast, particularly Guy Pearce, who carries most of the movie, do a good job of papering over some of the plot holes, but there is only so much they can do. A psychedelic motorbike chase scene that looks straight from a computer game will jar with viewers with higher expectations. However, in general the special effects and action are very good when you consider that this is not a blockbuster movie with a big budget. One thing you will have to appreciate about Lockout is that it is incredibly fast paced. The story moves so fast that it easy to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

When you decide to watch a film like Lockout, a film set in the future where prisoners are cryogenically frozen in space, there are obviously leaps of faith you will be required to make. Lockout doesn’t flinch from asking you to make these leaps, possibly a little too often and a little too far. However, you have a choice: watch something else, or embrace the imperfections and laugh with it.

The Lockout DVD and Blu-ray was released on July 17, 2012 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, four months after the theatrical release. It is available from Amazon in both formats as well as watch instantly or to download. Amazon have not yet added what special features the Lockout DVD and Blu-ray discs contain. This section will be updated once they do.