Lockout

Actors:  Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, Vincent Regan, Joseph Gilgun, Lennie James, Peter Stormare Rating:  9 out of 10, a really fun movie that totally snuck up on me when I saw it in the theater.  This kind of stuff is right in Luc Besson’s wheel house which he did so well with the 5^th Element.  Two actors completely dominate this movie.  Joseph Gilgun is mesmerizingly evil as the totally daft bad guy.  It’s impossible to look away when he is on screen and equally tough to understand what he is saying at times.  Pearce is even more effective as the wise cracking hero, channeling Bruce Willis.  He has too many great one–liners to recount but he takes serious moments and takes the air completely out of his superiors with incredibly funny jabs.  The action is almost non-stop as Pearce has to rescue the president’s daughter, Maggie Grace, from a prison located in space.  Grace holds her own with Pearce which is a challenge because he is so good.  The supporting cast is also superb although some of the American accents fray at times.  The dynamic between the two bad guy brothers was also well done and explains why Gilgun’s character survives his outlandish excesses.  The only thing that keeps this movie from achieving top ranking are the special effects which are not up to par.  Some of the early scenes look like they were done for a 1990’s Atari game.  That being said, this is a great movie for we lovers of popcorn escapism.
MVP:  Pearce as the witty, sarcastic but very effective CIA Operative Snow