No Escape is a film I watched with my jaw completely dropped. It's absolutely incredible to think something this antediluvian in its racism is being released in theaters in 2015, much less that it's being marketed as a blockbuster action film. This is a disgusting film, one that would only be more racist and appalling if Owen Wilson's character was wearing a Ku Klux Klan outfit for the entire film. I don't know what prompts people to make films like this and what gives them the idea that any of this can be considered entertainment but oh boy, is this film a despicable pile of garbage.
The film stars Wilson as Jack, a father of two lovely girls (Sterling Jerins and Claire Geare, who is wisely uncredited for her role as daughter Beeze) and a dedicated wife (Lake Bell.) They travel to an unnamed Asian country for a business opportunity presented to Jack. Soon after landing, their perfect world is in shambles when Jack realizes there is a war breaking out and the Asians (but only the bad ones, the good ones just get killed as if it's no big deal) are attacking (gasp) those white americans who are destroying their country. What persists is scene after scene of child in danger circumstances and Jack yelling at his family that they need to get to safety, both of which someone try to come across as a form of entertainment.
I don't know why anyone would enjoy this film. If it were this appallingly racist and uncaring and yet still intense, that's one thing. However, it's simultaneously unpleasant and boring. It's so dull, in fact, that even when Pierce Brosnan comes back as a man who leads Jack and his family, it felt incredibly anti-climatic as it was trying to build itself back up. I'm going to get into a spoiler here for a second because it's something I feel I have to bring up to talk about my true hate for this film so if you still somehow want to see this film, skip ahead to the subsequent paragraph.
Toward the end of the film, Jack's older daughter (so the one who's not Beeze, but is still only about 10,) has a gun to her head as the main Asian villain is forcing her to shoot her father in the face. The scene ends up with Jack's wife beating the main villain, and some of his henchmen, with a blunt object. I can't even describe how much I wanted to punch the Dowdle brothers (who wrote this film and John Erick Dowdle directed it) in the face. Anything could potentially be acceptable in a film but this was done with such an uncaring nastiness that I had a hard time believing I was watching it.
I rarely say this because I am more than aware how hard it is to get a film made but John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle and everyone else involved in the making of this film should be ashamed of themselves. I think Wilson and Bell both have a ton of talent but after watching this film, I have lost a lot of respect for them. This film is a torturous experience that serves absolutely no purpose and the attempt to try and cover the racism presented by writing in some phony BS about the dangers of being an American businessman at the end makes the unbelievable racism all the more shoved in the audience's faces.
No Escape is not only a bad film---it's an unforgivable one. To think this is what people deem acceptable in 2015 is just shocking. There is not a single redeeming quality in this whole mess and if DW Griffith came back from the dead and watched this film, even he would be ashamed of the ideas presented here.
(0 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated R for strong violence including a sexual assault, and for language)
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