No Escape (4 Stars)

I discovered this film in the ZDF Mediathek and was curious enough to watch it, even though it was dubbed into German. (All the German Mediathek films are dubbed into German). I thought I'd never seen it before, but the opening scenes were familiar. I'd seen it in the cinema on 6th September 2015, probably in a meetup with the Birmingham Film Group. My post is dated a day later, because I didn't know how to backdate posts at the time. It's common for me to write my review the next day, especially if I get home late. Now I backdate each post to the approximate time when the film finished.

"No Escape" is a good contrast to the films I've been watching in the film festival this week. They're all serious films in their respective genres, whereas "No Escape" is a typical blockbuster. But I have to say that I enjoyed it more than most of the festival films. A lot of serious film fans use the word blockbuster as an insult. Why? If a film is successful in attracting millions of people into the cinemas, there must be something good about it.

"No Escape" is an exciting action thriller. It's a film people can relate to. A family visits an East Asian country (unnamed, but presumably Laos) and gets caught up in a local uprising. How do you escape? The answer is obvious: seek refuge at the American Embassy, or the embassy of whatever country you come from. But what if the Embassy has been overrun by rebels? Where do you go then?

Owen Wilson puts on an excellent performance as a normal, everyday man. He could be you or me. We need more blockbusters like this.

Success Rate:  + 8.9

	Order from Amazon.com
	Order from Amazon.co.uk
	Order from Amazon.de