John Carpenter's Escape From L.A.

Welcome back everyone. Let's check out a sequel. It's been 17 years from the original, and the world is still in the sad state it has been. In the late 20^th century, hostile forces inside the United Staes grow strong. Within Los Angeles, the city is ravaged by crime and immorality, the United States Police Force stand ready to handle the offending town. A final 9.6 tremor on the Richter scale separates this wicked city from the rest of the United States. This is Escape From L.A

Gruff and green screened.

In the far away time of 2014, (yup still love that gag) with an presidential status putting a man in office for life, the President (Cliff Robertson of Too Late the Hero, Man on a Swing, Three Days of the Condor, Falcon Crest, The Sunset Boys, Spider-Man, and Spider-Man 2) passes laws establishing undesirables ranging from anyone deemed immoral, lesser or anyone refusing to adhere to the new moral order. The police encamp around L.A.with a 40 foot high fencing circling the town and the rules are simple. Once you are sent to L.A., you never come back. No parole.

Deemed the most dangerous man in the United States, an old soldier turned crook, Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell of Escape From New York, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, Tango & Cash, The Hateful Eight and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2) is being brought into the President, USPF Commander Malloy (Stacey Keach of The New Mike Hammer, Hemingway, False Identity, Lincoln, Body Bags, Titus, Mike Hammer, Private Eye and Death Row) and Lt. Brazen (Michelle Forbes of Swimming with Sharks, Kalifornia, 24, True Blood, The Returned, Powers, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and Berlin Station) to offer Snake a new deal. See kids, since NYC, ole Snake has racked up his fair share of charges and grievances and is looking ripe to make a trip to Hollywood.  

Trump's anti-immigrant laws are getting rough.

Air Force One has been overthrown by the President's daughter Utopia (A.J. Langer of The People Under the Stairs, My So-Called Life, Three Sisters, Private Practice and Kristin's Christmas Past), stealing a black box that controls satellites and its EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) frying anything electronic including batteries and items and vehicles turned off. So Stealth bombers are shielded and...yeah that is about it. Really didn't see this tyrannical "moral order" having drawbacks or people opposing it? Really?

Snake goes in, gets the box and comes back. This is the mission. One way or the other, Plissken is getting a tan. With the threat of a virus coursing through his veins, Plissken has 12 hours to get the black box or the virus kills him. Have they ever been through L.A.traffic?? Thankfully Plissken ran into Maps to the Stars Eddie, Mr. Pink himself Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs, The Hudsucker Proxy, Pulp Fiction, Desperado, Con Air, The Big Lebowski and Portlandia). Okay he isn't particularly useful but does have a few plot devices as an assist. The man running L.A.is no Duke of New York. Yeah sorry to crush Cuervo Jones' nut sack like that, but you ain't Issac Hayes, bub.

Piloting or poop think? You decide.

With an chance encounter, Snake bumps into (be still, heart) Taslima (Valerie Golino of Rain Man, Hot Shots!, Hotel, Caesar, Alive and In Treatment) as the two are snagged by roaming loonies not too disimilar to the cannibals in New York. Downside is they are set to be harvested for parts at the behest of the Surgeon General of Beverly Hills (Bruce Campbell of The Evil Dead, Crimewave, Mindwarp, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., Xena: Warrior Princess, Bubba Hotep and Spider-Man).

With this gaggle of goons, loons and grade A nutbars, can Plissken accomplish his mission and defeat Cuervo? Will he have to use salt and lime? Did anyone not get the tequila joke?

Okay so let's clear the air. Yeah the surfing scene looks pretty bad in green screen, sure. Yes a lot of the CGI for the helicopter was not great. Got it. Here's what I enjoyed. Characters appearing up in a John Carpenter movie.

Plissken getting into some smack down fights, underhanded gunning guys down and in general behaving like a proper antihero that he is. Russell slimmed and toned for the role so he could fit in his original costume 17 years prior.  That's some dedication.  This is also the only Carpenter sequel, Carpenter himself directed. Yeah Halloween II, Vampires: Los Muertos and the godforsaken prequel, The Thing not directed by John. Well a handful of scenes in the original Halloween II but other than that, those flicks are handled by others.

Let's see...funny trivia. Ah, both Bruce Campbell and Kurt Russell have been doubled by the bizarrely named cowboy stuntman John "Johnny" Casino. Both were also in the Disney superhero film, Sky High in spite of not having any scenes together.

This flick was stuck in development hell for over a decade. The first script commissioned was deemed too campy and was unlikely to be made until Russell told Carpenter he wanted to play Plissken again and pushed to getting it off the ground. Making only half of its budget back, 25 million to a 50 million budget, I had fun with it. Many folks complained it was too violent a movie or far too similar to the original. Aside from a handful of nitpicks, I got to see my favorite antihero back, making an impact and being a true badass.

Blam!