Escape Room (Review)
Escape Room Manages to Kick the Year Off Right.
January always sucks when it comes to new movies hitting theaters, so, I was hardly looking forward to
If you haven’t had a chance to explore an escape room before, they’re essentially exactly what they claim to be. You’re placed in a room when you have to uncover clues in order to find a way out before the time expires. Escape Room ups the ante by placing six strangers in lethal versions of these rooms. Because of this, Escape Room conjures up memories of the classic terrible sci-fi movie Cube as well as certain aspects of the Saw franchise, though without the gore since this film is rated PG-13 after all. Because of that, writers Bragi F. Schut and Maria Melnik are forced to get creative when it comes to the rooms the group is forced to make their way through. While some are definitely more intense than others, overall I have to congratulate them on their truly twisted imaginations.
Robital’s filmmaking has evolved a lot since his last movie. Of course, I’m sure the writers had a hand in that, but this time around he adopts a very visual style of filmmaking. I have always had a problem with directors who choose to tell rather than show, but Escape Room manages to avoid that pitfall by sprinkling clues throughout it. Just like the past time, it’s based on, Escape Room is all about the details (at least for the most part). It hints at its characters pasts and motivations, revealing their backstories slowly as the film progresses. Subtle flashbacks reveal only enough for us to connect the dots and figure out the characters on our own, which allows the actors to really shape our impressions of them early on. The same can be said for the detailed set decorating that is showcased throughout the movie. Each new room that the characters find themselves in are intricately decorated but maintain a certain sense of dread to them, which only serves to make things even more suspenseful.
I was surprised by just how engrossed I found myself with Escape Room. Despite not even wanting to be there, I was enthralled from the get-go, thanks to a truly intense opening sequence. This is probably because it’s a film that doesn’t rush itself. It takes its time with each room the characters find themselves in, letting tensions build before the traps are activated and they find themselves in a race against time for survival. The movie actually takes place across multiple rooms, which gives it a chance to slow down and reset after each narrow escape. Because of this, Escape Room lets you settle down off the edge of your seat before kicking things back into high gear and that proves to be a perfect recipe for this surprising thriller.
As much as I liked Escape Room, it’s not a perfect movie. While the reveals when it comes to the characters are well done, most of them turn out to be fairly cliche, though surprisingly well-written cliches. This normally wouldn’t be a problem, but the acting in the film is far from top notch. Don’t get me wrong, no one is “terrible” in it, but a few of the actors like Jay Ellis, Taylor Russell, and Deborah Ann Woll seem to find their characters cumbersome and their performances reflect that. As much as the film tries to slowly reveal the true natures of the characters, most of the actors can’t help wearing their hearts on their sleeves which only manages to make things a little too obvious, especially when it comes to some of the bigger twists. That being said, I am still a huge fan of Tyler Labine and even more so after his performance. It’s hardly award worthy, but he manages to remain grounded with his character even in all the chaos.
I definitely enjoyed Escape Room a lot more than I thought I would. It’s creative, thrilling, and fairly well executed. Things fall start to crumble towards the end as the big twist is revealed (one that we have seen time and time again in a number of recent movies) and it sets itself up for an inevitable sequel, but that doesn’t make it any less fun. Perhaps the best way to describe Escape Room is as a Syfy original movie, but it manages to fight successfully against its own cheesiness. In that regards, I have to say that this film is actually a pretty good start to the new year.
