Escape Plan 2013

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: Try not to think too hard about it, and Escape Plan is stupid, stupid fun. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Schwarzenegger misses no opportunity to be hilarious. How many actors can make you chuckle even when they're being waterboarded? Read more

Soren Anderson, Seattle Times: This latest pairing of the two aging macho superstars actually has a functioning intelligence. And a sense of humor. Oh, and don't worry. Its violence quotient is everything fans of muscle-bound cinema could ask for. Read more

Andrew Barker, Variety: Mercifully free of tongue-in-cheek meta-humor, "Escape Plan" is a likably lunkheaded meat-and-potatoes brawler that never pretends to be more sophisticated than it is ... Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: What do aging action stars do in their retirement? Nothing. Because they never retire. Read more

Tom Russo, Boston Globe: While it's fun to remember '80s popcorn-movie thrills, fully recapturing those thrills might be impossible. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: As Hollywood vehicles for aging action stars go, it's at least serviceable. Of course it's ridiculous, but what else would you expect? Read more

Laremy Legel, Film.com: Finally, a Stallone / Schwarzenegger film that isn't completely beneath them. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: They just don't make 'em like this anymore, and it's a good thing, too. Read more

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: "Escape Plan" is mostly a gray, thudding metal machine of throwback exploitation, but the goateed, goofy Ah-nold is so happy to be in the thick of an old-school bruiser again that he makes it feel like the dumb-fun flashback party it is. Read more

Isaac Chotiner, The New Republic: Don't expect this film to restart any careers; if anything, it will remind people why a couple of prominent ones ended. Read more

Jordan Hoffman, New York Daily News: While predictable and silly, "Escape Plan" is by far the most enjoyable Stallone film in years - it's pure, dopey escapism. Read more

Neil Genzlinger, New York Times: All in all, "Escape Plan" does what it sets out to do. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: Escape Plan is set in an ultra-modern prison, but it's fossilized entertainment. Read more

Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer: A mildly amusing, if ultimately pointless prison-break thriller from Mikael Hafstrom. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Hafstrom tries to pretend his stars are about 40 and, for the most part, it works. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: It's not a movie about two old guys who come back, but a straight-ahead action movie meant to be taken on its own terms. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: "Escape Plan" doesn't aim high, but it delivers, providing the brute force entertainment values we expect from B movies. Read more

Bruce Demara, Toronto Star: Escape Plan is the newest vehicle for aging action stars Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger and, in this case, it's a lemon or possibly an Edsel. Read more

Todd Gilchrist, TheWrap: For two guys who have both fought their way out of tougher, stupider, higher-concept ideas than this one, and looked better while doing it, "Escape Plan" suggests they may be trapped more by the past than any sort of tangible prison. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: These two enormously watchable old-school heroes deserve better. Read more

Scott Bowles, USA Today: Schwarzenegger seems to be the only one here who correctly takes the film as a lark. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: Just don't get your hopes up. Read more