ESCAPE PLAN 2: HADES

Film Review by FIORE

It is immediately apparent ESCAPE PLAN 2: HADES does not have the backing of Sylvester Stallone’s production company.   Usually, Sly is akin to an octopus, dipping a tentacle into numerous aspects of assembly.  It is a good thing, for it ensures the quality film Sly wants to deliver.  On this film, he simply stars and takes no control over the rest of the project; this is why ESCAPE PLAN 2: HADES does not have a theatrical release and went straight to home video; the production values are lacking. 

The original ESCAPE PLAN was an above average action flick notable for its combining Sly with his buddy The Arnold for the first time.  It concerned a security expert who attempts a report on a new prison, only to be hornswoggled into becoming one of its permanent clients. This second outing features Sly as Ray Breslin once again running the world’s top security firm, when suddenly, his elite team members disappear ensnared into Hades, the new high tech prison, spawned by the founders of The Tomb, the prison Sly and Arnold escaped from in the first film.

While the Arnold could not be convinced to help Sly with this second film, the producers did manage to coax Dave Bautista, Curtis Jackson, Wes Chatham and Jamie King to make extended cameos.  They all add a bit of gravitas to the movie.

Like many films now, ESCAPE PLAN 2: HADES is a joint venture with Chinese studios.  The main thrust of the film features Shu, played by Huang Xiaoming, as the newest member of Sly’s security team; and Yusheng, played by Chen Tang, an IT expert who develops next generation programs, destined to be the ultimate in satellite programming.  Shu is tasked to protect Yusheng when a rival company issues a bounty on him. Xiaoming can be a major force in American action films.  His fighting style and techniques are reminiscent of Daniel Wu’s in INTO THE BADLANDS.  His fight scenes dominate the movie and his introduction to action film fans is probably the main reason for the movie’s release. 

Technically, ESCAPE PLAN 2: HADES is a comedy of errors.  The script by Miles Chapman features generic dialogue, which is only salvaged by the quality of the actors.  The SFX are cartoonish, attempting to display electronic schematics.  The largest glitch is the editing.   Editors Vincent Tabaillon and Carsten Kurpanek cut the sequences in disjointed manner.  The transitions between segments are rough and leave gaps in the storytelling.

ESCAPE PLAN 2: HADES does offer notable baubles for action film fans. Bautista and Sly work well on screen, and it would be beneficial for these two to work together again.  It is nice to see Chatham branching out from his small screen persona.  He is a cult favorite playing Amos on THE EXPANSE, one of the show’s better characters.  The introduction of Xiaoming to American audiences is beneficial.  Already a star in China as both an actor and singer, he displays all the traits essential to becoming a major action star here as well.  And, finally, Jackson drops the moot “50 cent” from his moniker. 

Other than these virtues, ESCAPE PLAN 2: HADES slips into the realm of mediocre action flicks.  Had Sly been more involved with the production instead of an extended cameo role, this could have been a decent sequel.

CHINA SALESMAN

Film Review by FIORE

There are several conflicts of interest, political and economic, behind the release of CHINA SALESMAN.  Politically, President Donald Trump is clamping tariffs on China, accusing them of unfair trade practices and stealing of intellectual property.  CHINA SALESMAN is a tale of how China is a bastion in sharing intellectual property with the world, especially a third world entity like Africa.  It details the heroic adventures of its telecommunications sales force and their fight for global fairness.  Economically, China and Hollywood are now entwined lovers, cavorting under the sheets of box office returns.  They entered into agreements to ensure maximum profits by tying both markets together in an unholy alliance. 

The question now, for Director and Writer Tan Bing is how to sell a film with a message contrary to America’s leader, while still appeasing the demands of the Hollywood honchos.  The answer is to make the film a joint venture and incorporate recognizable names like Steven Seagal and Mike Tyson.  Seriously.  The end result is an action yarn which borders on the somatic and concludes with blatant Chinese patriotism. 

Yan Jian (Dong-Xue Li) is an IT professional, who is sent to Africa to secure the telecommunications business for DH Telecom, a Chinese firm.  Jian is sent because the company is short on salesmen.  Upon his arrival, he discovers companies from the West are also bidding, and are trying to stack the deck by utilizing a mercenary named Lauder (Seagal).  The conflict boils down to a righteous and moral East versus the corrupt and greedy West.  Toss into the mix, a delusional former African tribesman who wants to reclaim land for his people (Tyson), and the makings of a predictable plot emerge.  Also starring are Janicke Askevold, Zijian Want, Li Ai and Eriq Ebouaney. 

CHINA SALESMAN serves well as a propaganda piece, but not as well as an action film.  Tyson can’t act.  His mannerisms are forced and much of his dialogue is edited through the foley department.  If he wants to stay in movies, he needs some serious acting lessons and diction training.  Seagal is nothing more than a cameo.  He makes a few phone calls and appears in one fight scene, which is the highlight of the movie.  Total on screen time, is six minutes.  The rest of the characters are stereotypes played by actors who seem bored with their roles. 

The second act of the film is slow, so much so that you could leave the movie running, head into the kitchen to make a regal repast and return without missing anything of importance. CHINA SALESMAN claims to be based on true events, though it seems doubtful.  Jian is presented as the James Bond of IT techs, disarming terrorists, hacking government spy agencies and saving exploded transmission towers while falling from them.  Don’t think anyone has worked that hard for a commissioned sale.

As action films go, this one is forgettable after the Seagal fight, which is in the opening reel.  It’s obviously a propaganda ploy for claims against the Chinese stealing intellectual property but doesn’t have the celluloid moxy to pull off the ruse.

JURASSIC WORLD FALLEN KINGDOM

Film Review by FIORE

If you gave several small children a bag full of dinosaurs, dumped them on the floor and told them to play, they would come up with a storyline better than Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow did for JURASSIC WORLD FALLEN KINGDOM.  It’s obvious these two had as their only motivation for the film the concept of placing dinosaurs in a large mansion with people; much like Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich did by putting little Godzillas in Madison Square Garden in Matthew Broderick’s GODZILLA.

Until this film, the lamest script in the franchise was JURASSIC PARK III, concerning a group of plumbers attempting a rescue on a dinosaur filled island.  The script for JURASSIC WORLD FALLEN KINGDOM is more inane.  It lacks any adult type decision making, continuity or incisive dialogue.  Even Dr. Ian Malcom’s (Jeff Goldblum) diatribe to congress is filled with nonsensical platitudes.  He tells them man and dinosaurs can’t live together, then they spend the next two and a half hours trying to reside in the same country side estate. 

Under the guidance and tutelage of Director J. A. Bavona JURASSIC WORLD FALLEN KINGDOM is filled with celluloid chaos designed only to allow the dinos to raid the screen.  Even the action is inconsistent as man and beasts seem to move freely through the various levels of the mansion without regard for crucial items as gravity and geography.

In addition to Goldblum’s cameo appearance, Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, and BD Wong all reprise their respective roles.  New to this cast: Rafe Spall as antagonist Eli Mills; James Cromwell as Benjamin Lockwood, the billionaire conservationist and dino bleeding heart; and Justice Smith as Franklin Webb who serves to fill all the minority parts not present in the first JURASSIC WORLD as he plays an effeminate, black nerd.  Multiculturalism preserved, Hollywood lives another day.  Finally, there is another cameo by a veteran actor.  Geraldine Chaplin plays Iris, the Lockwood house keeper.

It's three years since the disaster at JURASSIC WORLD caused by the Indominus Rex.  The volcano on the island is now active and erupting.  A social fight is occurring in America where some folk say let nature take its course and have the dinosaurs die with the island, while the other faction wants to save the dinos at all costs because they are, afterall, living creatures.  American is the only country worried about this, as other nations are busy securing their borders and shoring up their national defense systems.   We do however, see several BBC reports on the island’s destruction, because in reality, the producers could not list any American news outlets without being tagged fake news, save for Fox, and there is no way Tinseltown will allow that transgression.

To solve the dilemma, Lockwood makes his intentions known to save eleven dino species and relocate them to an uninhabited island called The Sanctuary.  Apparently, there was a close personal relationship between Lockwood and Dr. John Hammond (the late Richard Attenborough) from the original JURASSIC PARK.  Of course, this is a new relationship never before hinted to in any of the other films; a type of deus ex machina to provide a similar benevolent character.

All goes swimmingly well until the crew attempts to round up the creatures from Isla Nublar and they first encounter Blue, the people friendly velociraptor and JURASSIC WORLD’S answer to Barney.  The encounter is nonsensical and involves a series of terrible plot twists designed to doom the remainder of the film.  Not content with the island debacle, Lockwood’s financial manager schemes to sell the dinos to rare species collectors and hold the auction on the Lockwood estate, turning  Mills, into the poster child for curing mental retardation; and the lunacy of the script compounds proportionately.

Though the script is insipid, the dinos are cool.  If I log one complaint, its that the concept of the colorful, feathered dinosaur has yet to reach Spielberg.  All the dinos are the same, drab, greyish brown color.  The exception is the pachycephalosaurs who is burnt orange, and though only in two scenes, manages to establish himself as the star of the movie.

JURASSIC WORLD FALLEN KINGDOM is strictly for kids and dino lovers.  The special effects are first rate, the dinos look cool and all dino attacks, save one, are edited for gore.  Children will be able to see the film, and still sleep well at night.  Plus, in typical Spielberg fashion, there is another annoying child who comes in to save the day for everyone.

Grab the popcorn, root for the dinos, but don’t look for a solid sci-fi story.  It’s just not present in this outing.