After a decade-and-a-half break The Hire returns with a bang. The Escape definitely feels like the original films and is a worthy sequel regarding the production standards. Everything is here - the speed, the tricks, the booms and of course, the driver and his BMW. The passenger is once again cast splendidly and the antagonist feels real. Yet I just can't help feeling deja-vu's all over:
All this doesn't matter though, because what you get is a state-of-the-art action short film for free. It does everything right in terms of impression and its original purpose - which is to promote a car. And by doing so BMW builds a carefully designed image that combines reliability with coolness. The driver always acts in favor of the audience - and so does his car.
So what is this? To me it's more a homage to the original series than an actual sequel. At this point no further installments have been announced so I think if there was an upcoming series it would have to dig a little deeper into the character of the driver - or else it would prove to be what it was originally made for: an extremely cool car car commercial. I believe it can effortlessly be both.
- the child on the back seat that's transported for the wrong reasons - a helicopter brought down by the car without using any weapons - the driver changing his mind in favor of the character that the films builds empathy around - all forces working against the driver - that he escapes sublimely
All this doesn't matter though, because what you get is a state-of-the-art action short film for free. It does everything right in terms of impression and its original purpose - which is to promote a car. And by doing so BMW builds a carefully designed image that combines reliability with coolness. The driver always acts in favor of the audience - and so does his car.
So what is this? To me it's more a homage to the original series than an actual sequel. At this point no further installments have been announced so I think if there was an upcoming series it would have to dig a little deeper into the character of the driver - or else it would prove to be what it was originally made for: an extremely cool car car commercial. I believe it can effortlessly be both.