We first met Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone) fighting his way out of “The Tomb”, the most secure federal prison in the world (Escape Plan). It’s where he was implanted to see if the jail was as protected enough to hold the vilest inmates in the world. It’s his business and what he does for a living, and he makes a hefty fee. But, having shown he could break out with the help of Rottmayer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) was not enough for the brawny security master.
Just when you thought the last breakout was the toughest he’d ever have to face, Shu Ren (Huang Xiaoming), one of his new security team members, gets kidnapped and put in an even stronger, more secure, detention center called “The Zoo” putting Ray back in the thick of things (Escape Plan 2: Hades). Having the assistance of Trent DeRosa (Dave Bautista) and Hush (Curtis Jackson aka 50 Cent) however, they screw off the top of that can, but not without losses.
In this action thriller Escape Plan: The Extractors there’s more that meets the eye. We run into Daya Zhang (Melise) the daughter of the owner of Zhang Innovations, Hong Kong. She is with her body guard Bao (Harry Shum Jr.) and they are looking to purchase property to expand their company in America. At the Airport when they are about to board their plane to return to her homeland, Daya gets kidnapped.
Hours later, Ray takes the job of freeing Daya who’s being held in a hideous prison called “Devil’s Station” in Dervaniski, Latvia. Her captor Lester Clark Jr. (Devon Sawa) is the son of a former partner of Ray’s who has a grudge to settle with him. When Clark makes the situation even more personal for Ray, he springs into action with Trent, Shen Lo (Jin Zhang) and Bao.
Just like most of Stallone’s films they’re really the same story, but at a different location. Escape Plan has become more of a series, than a onetime exciting action thriller that will mesmerize with something different. And if it weren’t for the extreme violence it could easily have been a Cable FX series. That said, it’s one of my guilty pleasures to see Stallone in action and I can’t wait for the release of Rambo: Last Blood in September of this year.
There’s no question that the actors chosen do a very good job creating their characters under the direction of John Herzfeld who also had a hand in writing this chapter. A couple of Herzfeld’s films have been my favorites and if you have a chance to check out 15 Minutes and 2 Days in the Valley, then you’ll know why. He makes this film exciting with some very tricky choreography and lightning swift martial arts. He even throws in some pyrotechnics for good measure.
BONUS FEATURES:
“Commentary” with Director John Herzfeld, actors Sylvester Stallone, Devon Sawa, and Daniel Bernhardt. Click on this under special features after you have already watched the film for insights on the opinions of the filmmakers.
“The Making of Escape Plan: The Extractors” Stallone talks about his character and how he has expanded in the security business to work in other things like hostage retrieval. He goes on to applaud director John Herzfeld Others chime in like Dave Bautista, Devon Sawa, Max Zhang, and others talk about their work on the film as well.
Escape Plan: The Extractors has been rated R by the MPAA for violence and language. The violence gets very graphic and it includes some disturbing brutality. The DVD/Blu-ray has trailers as the disc gets loaded. Two of them are for the previous Escape Plan films and will give you some of the background if you haven’t already seen the original and first sequel.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A pretty good sequel with a lot of action. (3 out of 5 Stars)
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Dave Bautista, 50 Cent, Jin Zhang, Harry Shum Jr., Devon Sawa, Jamie King, Melise
Director: John Herzfeld
MPAA Rating: R for violence and language
Genre: Action, Thriller
Running Time: 1 hr. 37 min.
Video Release Date: July 2, 2019
Original Theatrical Release Date: June 21, 2019
Language: English
Reviewed Format: Blu-ray
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen 16×9, Aspect Ratio 2.40:1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Number of Discs: 2 Discs
Distributed by: Lionsgate Premiere
Released on: Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack, with Digital Code
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
