The Escapist (2002) User Reviews

Keeps you occupied, nothing else

[Enchorde · 5/10 · 15 April 2006]

Recap: During a break-in Ricky Barnes shoot and kill Denis' pregnant wife. The child is saved, but Denis is not. He can't move on, can't forget and can't forgive. There is only on option. Revenge. But Barnes is now imprisoned in a maximum-security prison, and is not easy to get to. But if it is something Denis got, it is time and determination. So he leaves his child in the care of his sister-in-law, stages his own death and starts the hunt.

Comments: A short and rather eventless thriller. It keeps you occupied during the hour and a half it runs, but offers nothing extra. The movie lacks real suspense and the ending a little simple and disappointing.

Good performances from Lee Miller, Serkis and Lewis, the only characters that are really given some time and focus. But in all it doesn't do much to elevate the movie. It is simply put very average in most aspects.

5/10

Standard revenge tale enlivened by a great cast

[dbborroughs · 6/10 · 29 October 2005]

A pilots pregnant wife is killed by a band of thugs who break into their home. The gang is caught and sent off to prison. Wanting to see that "justice" is done the pilot stages his own death and then gets himself arrested so he can hunt the killers in the prisons into which they have been sent.

To be honest the story is a bit clichéd with the plot taking some obvious paths once things are set in motion. Normally that would be a bad thing but here the film works largely thanks to a very good cast of mostly unknown actors. The stand out is Andy Serkis, best known for playing Gollum in the Lord of the Rings movies. Here he's the head of the nasty band and his vileness seems to drip off the screen. If you want to know why Peter Jackson chose him to play the tortured creature in the big budgeted epic look no further. Serkis isn't on screen much until the final portion of the film, but his evilness in the early part of the film hangs over everything like a dark cloud.

Definitely worth a look for those who want an undemanding thriller, and those who want to see what Andy Serkis is capable of when he isn't doing just a computer generated character. 6.5 out of 10.

A good movie

[beatnick49 · 7/10 · 19 January 2004]

Warning, possible spoilers

I didn't have high expectations of this, in fact I never really thought much about it. But when I watched it it was quite good.A pity it went straight to video,as far as I know anyway, it deserved to be on the big screen. Andy Serkis is good at playing a truly evil, detestable, villain. Johnny Lee Miller is good as the widower, Denis, seeking vengeance, and the way in some cases he must become a truly different person from what he was, becoming ruthless, hardened, and a user of others, is well followed. He's a sympathetic character as he goes through all the various trials and tribulations. The other cast are good in their parts as well. I am not a big fan of criminal movies but with this, as well as Lock Stock, I am willing to make an exception. I can't complain about this, and am glad I saw it. A good thriller.I won't spoil the ending but I will say I liked it very much.

Eye for an Eye

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 27 January 2007]

The skilled pilot Denis Hopkins (John Lee Miller) loves with his pregnant wife Valerie (Paloma Baeza) and has a comfortable lifestyle. When the gang of criminals leaded by the sadistic Ricky Barnes (Andy Serkis) breaks in his seaside house, he offers whatever the criminals want to protect his beloved wife but the evil Ricky kills Valerie. The baby is saved, and later the murderer is arrested and sent to the maximum security prison of Sullen Voe. Denis moved by the purpose of revenging the death of Valerie, gives Amy and his house to his sister-in-law Christine (Jodhi May). Then Denis breaks a police car and is arrested, but he does not reveal his true name and is called John "What" by the prisoners and guards. Denis successively escapes, forcing his transference to Sullen Voe. When he reaches his objective, Ricky schedules a confrontation, but things do not happen the way Denis expected.

"The Escapist" is a great thriller following the saying "Eye for an Eye". Laws with the soft sentence of twenty years for a brutal murder like the sadistic Ricky Barnes does in the movie will only change when societies proactively react, like for example, the character of Denis Hopkins does in the movie killing the criminal. Unfortunately the rushed flawed conclusion forgets the fate of the secondary characters of Christine, Ron and Ricky Barnes's son that could be easily associated to Denis, disclosing his true identity. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Escapista" ("The Escapist")

a revenge drama more than anything,

[disdressed12 · 6/10 · 28 November 2007]

and i do mean drama.this is not an action packed movie.the emphasis is definitely on the drama.it's all about the trouble a man goes to to get revenge on a guy who killed his wife.it takes quite awhile to get there,and when it does,it's almost not worth it,at least in my opinion.i don't mind if a movie takes awhile to get to the payoff,except in this movie,there isn't really a payoff.i sorta wondered to myself if it was worth all the trouble the guy went through.but the movie is at least watchable.plus,there is a bit of character development and there's some pretty good acting.plus,it's not as if the movie is drop dead boring or anything.i just expected more.if you're an action junkie,you should look elsewhere for your fix.you won't find it here.when all is said and done,i think The Escapist is worth a 6/10.

Enjoyable. ***Spoilers***

[dave_t_lancs · 23 September 2004]

I caught this one night on Sky Movies. i hadnt heard of it but had heard of Jonny Lee Miller so gave it a try.

It was terrible to imagine what the guy went through at the beginning of the film and it was obvious why he set out to get revenge.

What i am not too sure about is how easy it would be to keep 'mis-behaving' in prison and get transfered to the particular prison he wanted.

Even though it was funny the ways he thought of getting into trouble and be transfered around

That said, i did enjoy it and would probably watch it again next time round...i would give it 6 1/2 out of 10.

Great Story

[whpratt1 · 6/10 · 1 July 2008]

This story deals with a very happy guy named Denis Hopkins, (Jonny Lee Miller) who is a pilot and he has a wife he loves very much and she is pregnant and they are both looking forward to their son or daughter. Denis likes to bring his airplane to great heights and then turn the engine off and lets the plane descend and at the last minute he would turn the plane back on and scare his wife and sister-in-law in order to show he had great skill as a pilot. There is a terrible crime committed in the home of Denis and his wife which changes the direction of this film and Denis goes from one prison to another in order to get justice and revenge for a great harm which came to him and caused him to have a mental breakdown. Andy Serkis, (Ricky Barnes) gave an outstanding acting performance which created a great resentment towards his horrible character. Enjoy.

Nothing special this time Gillies....

[id247 · 3/10 · 10 January 2005]

SPOILER ALERT

Man seeks revenge, man gets revenge, with a whole bunch of clichéd stereotypes and derivative plot developments along the way.

I've a lot of time for director Gillies Mackinnon and actor Johnny Lee Miller, but this seems to have been made in a hurry without someone sitting down and asking crucial plot questions. Andy Serkis hams it up too much as the heavy and deserves better.

If you want to see a great Gillies Mackinnon film seek out Small Faces (1996), a BBC funded film, a very powerful story about youth gangs in 60's Glasgow. I also hear Regeneration is good but as yet haven't caught up with it.

Sorry chaps, but a misfire this time, better luck next time.

"I 'ate your muvver..."

[Born_Sanguinary · 10/10 · 20 April 2004]

all i can say is "Wow!" this film took me totally be surprise. I found it for a tenner in my local Blockbuster, and i was inspired. It is proof that us british film makers, are capable of producing compelling stories, great action and high class performances in a blend that hollywood has trouble doing.

Indeed, it infuriates me that an excellent piece of work like this should go straight to video, whereas utter trash like Jackass the movie gets a full cinematic release worldwide.

This film brings hope to all of us independant film makers, that it doesn't take a huge budget to make a good film, and also reminds us that the primary reason people should make films is to entertain, not make money.

a Solid 9 out of 10

Bloody Hell! (no spoilers)

[RalphJas · 10/10 · 22 November 2002]

I must admit that I rented this movie on DVD, just because Andy Serkis was in it. He played Gollum in The Lord of the Rings - at least his voice did in the first part. So I was kind of curious to see the man behind the voice. But once I was five minutes past the titles the film kind of grew on me, Andy Serkis or no (although he plays his part rather well).and I really liked it. It is a gruesome story about a burglary gone REAL bad, but still it has got some humor too. This could have been a big hit, if only it had been made in Hollywood. I can see Michael Douglas play a part in the remake... But seriously, it is THAT kind of movie. Innocent guy, lovely wife, loads of money - and all of a sudden it does not matter any more. Great Thriller!

Fantastic!!!

[hollymaylewis · 8/10 · 5 August 2005]

What can I say?! This film is under rated and the actors and actresses deserve all the credit in the world for a truly entertaining performance. Hats off to Johnny Lee Miller and Andy Serkis; they blew me away. This film has it all; comedy, (Johnny's face in the plane!), drama (his wife), and the bit with Vin is truly heart wrenching. I really felt for Johnny's character and how much he NEEDS revenge, amazing! This is a film for young adults/adults. Due to the sometimes graphic nature of the images shown I wouldn't recommend this for children of 12 or under.

Revenge-Driven Thriller

[Sweet_Ophelia · 9/10 · 6 June 2006]

Jonny Lee Miller plays Denis, a rich pilot with a pretty pregnant wife, Valerie (Paloma Baeza) whose life is turned upside down when a thief breaks into their humble home and maliciously shoots Valerie and leaves Dennis to cope with the lasting sadness of her murder. Denis is not satisfied when Valerie's killer, notorious thief Ricky Barnes (Andy Serkis), is thrown into an Alcatraz style prison for 20 years. For Denis, this sentence isn't enough; as he achingly muses, if he were given the option of visiting his wife for 2 hours once a week, a month or even once a year, that would be better than what he has now… nothing. He cannot get past his need for revenge; not even his baby girl, delivered by C-section, can coax him out of this fog. And so he devises a plan to get himself thrown into the same high-security prison as Barnes, and get his revenge.

Revenge is the central theme of this fantastic film, written by Nick Perry and directed by Gillies MacKinnon. It isn't always an edge-of-your-seat drama, more it is an intrinsic look into the creation, hungering and devouring need for revenge…. The high-stakes drama comes in the last half hour or so, when Denis's plan is tangible as he gets thrown into Barnes's prison. The film doesn't try to show that light exists at the end of the tunnel, or that every cloud has a silver lining. Denis's thirst for reprisal is depressing; he has such tunnel-vision that not even his baby girl and the hint of a fresh start can coax him out of his ebb. And the really sad thing is that as we watch Denis strive toward his realized vengeance, we as the viewer know that what comes after he succeeds is not going to be pretty… he will be left with nothing, no life, nothing to drive him, just the realization of all that he has lost. So while rooting for Denis to get payback on the evil Ricky Barnes, there is also a devastating knowledge that things will only get worse from here on in.

Johnny Lee Miller is a relatively unknown actor who never made good on his break-out performance in the film "Trainspotting"; if he is known at all, it is as Angelina Jolie's first ex-husband whom she constantly says she regrets divorcing. Miller doesn't always captivate and command the screen, but he is adequate in this lead role as a tough, driven lover whose sadness is really eating him alive. The real star in this film is the wicked Andy Serkis, best known for his role as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings films and as the monkey in another Jackson film "King Kong". Surprise, surprise; Serkins can actually act sans the tight-blue lycra and CGI wires – his brilliance is measured by his loathsomeness – and trust me, it's always at breaking point!

Great little straight to video gem that would go totally unnoticed if it wasn't always on cable television.

Great Thriller!

[kras25 · 10/10 · 29 September 2002]

It starts great ..the story hold you from the beginning until the end ,i comment it to any who like Thriller movies!..the story is great the plot is great ,good screen play all this is how a thriller must be!.Other movies makers can look at this and take a lesson about it ! So if you love a good plot and you love Thrillers ?! watch this it wont make you boring !

Good, worth a look if there's nothing good at Blockbuster

[sdwilson79 · 8/10 · 12 March 2004]

With this being a film I'd never heard of and seemingly being low-budget and British I was expecting it to be pretty poor but it was actually a decent hour and a half. Jonny Lee Miller and Andy Serkis are both good in their roles, Serkis particularly playing psycho Ricky Barnes a little too convincingly. The story is pretty basic but manages to keep you interested in the progression throughout. Better than a lot of mainstream big budget fare and certainly better than the TV special standard I was expecting. Good choice at Blockbuster if there is nothing else that stands out.

• An eye for an eye drives a nice man to unknown depths, new talent, good plot, well shot.. •

[james__uk · 9/10 · 10 March 2004]

A well-off pilot (?) whose wife is expecting gets the shock of his life, when somebody takes away his very reason for living. To get revenge, he must change his whole life, become a person he had previously never contemplated. A world of casual violence beckons, but the man keeps alive his belief in human goodness, just about. Without the tools or skills to live in horrible new places, he'll need friends and luck to survive..

The locations range from great to spectacular, and supporting characters are cast solid and believable. You can feel this man's pain as everything he loves is brought into terrible danger. At times he seems to go almost mad, but by focusing totally on what he must do, he is (luckily) able to find a way to come through. Could make you cry out loud..

I got smacked by Gollum

[noelhf4 · 10 November 2004]

I haven't seen the film but I was in it as an extra. I often wondered what happened to the film as I never saw in a video shop or advertised anywhere. I'm the prison officer in the courtroom scene on Andy Serkis' left. I was taken aback when Andy reacted violently during the scene as he was taken down after sentencing. They never tell the extras anything. In one take I was flung to the floor in another take he caught me in the ribs with his elbow. I was in agony for weeks. Andy Serkis definitely owes me a drink for that. LOL But I was impressed at the way both Johnny Lee Miller worked together and the way they repeated the intensity required in the scene and then switched off and started talking about football as soon as the cut was called. I'm looking forward to seeing the film soon.

Excellent acting made me care about a pretty routine - and at times, monotonous - plot...

[Howlin Wolf · 8/10 · 27 May 2005]

... The whole point of movies that are largely set in prison is invariably to find some way of conveying the soul-crushing mundanity that comes with facing a long spell in chokey. That Mackinnon manages this ably is both a testament to him, and a little wearying on the poor old viewer, at the same time! Of course, our protagonist is too focused on exacting retribution, than knuckling down and copping for 'good behaviour'; and this is a detail that mercifully there is not much attempt to hide from us.

Something should have been done to enliven the sequences of one escape attempt after another - but it was the knowledge that there would eventually be a 'payoff', that kept me on the edge of my seat, even as I was silently pleading with the screen to get a move on. Miller does 'stoic' impressively enough in the lead to get us firmly on his side; and it was good to see Andy Serkis 'twisted visage' again put to effective use - no C.G. hogging the limelight, this time!

Scores of revenge flicks might pose more intriguing dilemmas for the watcher to mull over. If we are basic enough to leave the layered dissection of texts out of this, though; the ones that have the most impact are those evocative enough to tap into primal urges, and get us REALLY hating the villain. Looking back, I feel it was this factor that was 'key', in making me rate the film as high as I did.

The ultimate comeuppance is only what is deserved, and so everyone manages to pull off the neat trick of scooting away leaving the audience satisfied; despite making little actual effort to muddy the moral waters, some.

'Escape', indeed; but the committed portrayals afford it just enough of a head-start to make it a decent bet, before the hounds are released... !

Vengeful Thriller Very Cool.

[pyzia · 22 October 2002]

From the opening scene it is beautifully shot, with a cool and hard style plus superb casting. Highlighting the senseless horror in our current society and one mans determination not to let sleeping dogs lie. It took me through several very strong emotions.

Oh THAT Escapist

[basilisksamuk · 8/10 · 6 March 2010]

I was confused after reading reviews on IMDb about a film with the same title starring Brian Cox about a prison break. After some minutes it became clear that this was not that film. However, it appears to be a prison break film in reverse. After his wife is killed by psycho robber Andy Sirkis, Johnny Lee Miller rightly rejects therapy that seeks to heal him and goes after revenge instead. The only way he can get into the high security prison that Sirkis is in is to work his way through the prison system until he gets sent to the same place. It's always pleasant to find a film you've never heard of and get such enjoyment out of watching it. The concept alone keeps you watching and the excellent acting and tight plotting makes it an edge-of-the-seat viewing experience. Impressive.