The art of the action thriller is rediscovered in the new film No Escape starring Owen Wilson, Lake Bell and Pierce Bronson. The movie is set in a fictitious Asian country during a violent political uprising and takes the audience on a white knuckle ride where no one is safe from the violent citizens who want to see all Americans and Westerners dead. Wilson plays Jack Dwyer, an engineer who has just stepped off the plane with his family for a new job and gets thrown into the chaos. Jack must navigate the dangers of the city to find safe haven for his family.
It’s been awhile since Owen Wilson spent time in the action genre, although he doesn’t look to have missed a beat. Instead of a cocky cowboy or a singing crashed jet pilot, Wilson is a man scared to death who will do anything to keep his family alive. That includes throwing his children from rooftop to rooftop in order the survive. Wilson is more of an outnumbered hero in retreat rather than a one man wrecking ball. Jack is a regular person like you and me, so you feel his stress due to the horror his family will face if caught.
Wilson and on-screen wife Lake Bell are impressive with both the action and dramatic angles of No Escape. You feel their desperation and look of hopelessness throughout their performances, this is other side of what makes No Escape work as an action thriller. There’s plenty of mayhem with the rebel forces taking the city and eliminating anyone in their way, but there is also a scary element to No Escape. Imagine being thrown into a world where you don’t speak the language and are completely unaware of your surroundings as a war is breaking out. The film doesn’t use subtitles so the audience is just as clueless as the Dwyer clan. You have no clue what anyone is saying and it amps the suspense. Questioning whether the locals are going to help them or hurt them is the mystery the audience goes through with the family.
No Escape is a film that comes out of nowhere, grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go for 80 minutes. The movie is brutal and holds no punches with its storytelling.The family is beaten and bruised and you really begin to wonder if there will be a happy ending for the Dwyers. The situations are traumatic and real so prepare to hold your breath and find out if there really is no escape.
Overall, I give No Escape 3 out 4 intense stars.
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