No Escape (2015) Reviews

• Review from a Vietnamese: Good movie but just no there yet

  kevinheroes05042015-11-03

  No Escape has me on the edge of my seat for several moments. The intensity of the movie is real. Well done producer, but you still miss the shot by that much. The story is about Jack Dwyer and his families traveling to a South East Asian movie to settle down so he can work for a water company there. However, they soon find out that a coup has broken out and local rebels are trying to kill all foreigners they see because those foreigners are making them slave by control the water sources. Jack has to walk through hell, fight off enemies to escape to Vietnam. Cool, really good plot. However, it can be much better. I want to know better about the villain, not just mindless criminals. I want a bit of side story and explanation. Although Mr.Hammond did explain a bit, I feel that detail is just too shallow and it is not developed good enough. I feel that bit is not necessary, a normal coup for power is fine for me. Don't mark everything America with star, stripes and eagle. The movie also has several errors. Such as when Annie told her daughter to hide in the bathroom and lock, she ran the opposite direction in the bedroom, but later the wife was standing in front of the bathroom next to the main door (hotel, 1 bathroom only). Also when the sniper try to kill them, Hammond and Kenny did a terrible job on keeping an eyes out. Moreover, if I am a rebel and I know they are staying up there, I will send several men to get them right there, not just staying in the tower and shoot. That is a terrible strategy. Hammond was really cool character, but he does not have enough screen time, which is a total let down. The ending scene was not well played, I feel it rushes too much and I feel they take only 5 minutes to get to Vietnam border. And the truck was chasing, if they planned to kill, why don't they just shoot when the boat still on the other side? What hold them back? I would prefer the ending scene on a road than the river. As I want to see a bit more standoff between Vietnamese force and rebels. LIKE: Good plot Decent Acting Good "South East Asian" Atmosphere Hammond Intensity and violence Vietnam is safe haven DISLIKE: Plot was not well developed in side story Movie errors and nonsense Screen time for Hammond was not enough Ending scene OTHER STUFF FOR DISCUSSION: OK, the country in the movie, is not real. So calm down guys. It was filmed in Thailand, people speaking Laotian and minority languages and all the signs are in "up side down" Cambodian Khmer. It is a movie okay? There is no country's city has direct fly from US and couple of miles away from Vietnam, of course. I personally like this movie, it reflects partly the truth of several South East Asian countries now. Cambodia is going through big political war between the current gov and the politicians who want to wage a war with Vietnam. Thing was really tense at Vietnam's border couple of months ago. I saw someone rated this movie bad and said it is a racist movie because white people escapes. Calm the f*ck down, it is an action movie, not a lovely soft humane story. Don't bring the refugee crisis in here, movie is movie, real life is real life. Rate it 7.5/10

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• Unexpected... Bravo!

  palavitsinis2015-11-04

  Going to watch a movie with Owen Wilson starring, you usually expect some kind of comedy or romance. Not this time. I was really worried that he would not be up to the task with this one, but this was not true, not true at all! The movie was fascinating, completely plausible, filled with amazing scenes that keep you at the edge of your seat. The things that this family goes through were unimaginable but very well executed during filming. Owen was that good that you could actually empathize with his suffering and anxiety and put yourself in his position struggling for his family. Pierce Brosnan was AMAZING! Just the right amount, just as much as needed, to complement a really thrilling movie! Recommended for sure! Can't wait to see more stuff like that from Owen Wilson!

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• Tenser than a tuk-tuk ride at rush hour

  bob-the-movie-man2015-09-09

  "No Escape" is set in an anonymous South East Asia country bordering Vietnam facing a violent civil war, with the uprising triggered by perceived foreign imperialist intervention. The film was shot in Thailand but looks and feels like Cambodia. Having had the fortune to spend time in Cambodia and be immersed in its troubling history, this feels well positioned: the economic premise at the heart of the film – that governments invest in loss-leading foreign-aid, in this case water treatment, to 'buy' future strings of the leadership - is controversial but has the ring of truth about it. Countries like Cambodia have been used as political footballs by the Super Powers for many years, and are pressure-cookers of injustice and discontent. Owen Wilson and Lake Bell play Jack and Annie Dwyer, parents relocating – reluctantly - to the country as ex-pats to follow Jack's work as a water treatment engineer for a US corporate. Pretty brave, as they have their two young children Lucy and Beeze in tow. With immaculate timing they fly in on the eve of the uprising and their life turns into a terrifying game of hide and seek as the armed rebels pursue then with one intent: murder with a side-order of rape. They are aided and abetted by a long-term ex-pat Hammond (Pierce Brosnan) who spends most of his free-time in bars and brothels but is a handy person to know. The film's title sums up the action perfectly: in a world without law, order or reason, and as scuppered as four chickens in a fox farm, how will the family survive? Or indeed will they all survive? The bottom line is that this film is tense. Very tense. On the 'tenseness scale', we go right through 'clenching the armrest' right up to 'hands in the hair' tense at times, and there is little relief from after the action really kicks off. As a result, this is quite an exhausting watch. The casting is also fascinating. Owen Wilson, better known for fluffier stuff like "Wedding Crashers", didn't feel to me like the natural choice for this lead, but he is really excellent. And Lake Bell, best known for the kooky and underrated 'voiceover' film "In a World", also excels as the traumatized wife and mother. Together with some highly credible performances by the kids (Sterling Jerins and Claire Geare) the ensemble really makes you care for the family unit, which adds massively to the tension. Also in his best role for years Pierce Brosnan has great fun as the animated larger-than-life Hammond, although those of a sensitive musical disposition should be aware that he does sing again in karaoke mode: and if this were possible, it's even more toe-curlingly awful than "SOS" (albeit intentionally so). The one criticism would be Brosnan's weird accent which at first I took to be South African, but it later emerges that he is supposed to be British. If so, it's no UK regional accent that I recognize. We are into September now – a difficult period for cinema, where the summer blockbusters give way to those films the studios deem not quite good enough for the 'Oscar period'. But, whilst having the feeling of a tight and relatively low-budget flick, here is an action film worthy of your attention. It is a film that tells a simple story very well, choosing to cut away from the more gruesome acts (it is a '15' certificate in the UK) to focus on the players' reactions and leaving more to the imagination. For this, the director – John Erick Dowdle (who also wrote the piece) – is to be congratulated. I was rather sniffy about his last film ("As Above, So Below") – "No Escape" is a vast improvement. In summary, taut, tense and worthy of your movie dollar. Note though that for those adversely affected by films about children in peril and/or about serious sexual assault, this might be one for you to miss. (If you enjoyed this review, please register at bob-the-movie-man.com for future posts. Thanks)

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• Surprisingly thrilling and engaging

  Gordon-112015-09-03

  This film tells the story of an expatriate family arriving in an Asian country the night a bloody coup occurs. They have to do everything they can to stay alive and get across the border. Nothing prepares me for the thrilling adventure that "No Escape" provides. The film starts with a shocking assassination, then the story provides no place for me to catch my breath until almost an hour later, when the characters are on the second roof. Owen Wilson is a very convincing family man. This film proves that he can do more than comedic roles. He leads his shocked family from one place to another, encountering countless near death experiences. "No Escape" keeps me on edge all the time, and in fact I had to keep my eyes closed for quite a few scary scenes! There is also a lot of emotional element. The characters are very human, like ordinary citizens who have no superpowers. They do everything they can to protect their family's lives. I think that is why the story is so engaging. I really enjoyed watching "No Escape".

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• Tense Thriller

  claudio_carvalho2015-12-20

  The American engineer Jack Dwyer (Owen Wilson) is expatriated to Southeast Asia to work in the water plant of his company. He travels with his wife Annie (Lake Bell) and their daughters Lucy and Beeze and befriends the English Hammond (Pierce Brosnan) at the airport. Nobody from his company comes to take Jack and his family to the hotel and he accepts the ride offered by Hammond with his local friend Kenny Rogers (Sahajak Boonthanakit). Soon Jack notes that the television, telephone, Internet and cellular do not work and the front desk explains that they are facing problems. On the next morning, Jack walks to the market to buy a newspaper, he discovers that there is a revolution in the country and the rebels are executing foreigners. Now his only hope is to reach the American Embassy with his family. But the rebels are everywhere and Jack does not speak or read the language of the country. "No Escape" is an extremely tense thriller with a great storyline of an expatriated family that are surprised by a rebellion in the country where they have just moved. The tension is intense and the viewer that has been expatriated along his professional life will probably be more impressive with this film. The cast has wonderful performances and it is easy to understand the reaction of the annoying Lucy if the viewer is a father or mother. My vote is eight. Title (Brazil): "Horas de Desespero ("Desperate Hours")

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