Escape

Two friends take a dreadful and horrifying vacation when criminals kidnap them in order to sell them to the highest bidder. That's when adversity and retribution sets in, this movie is about women empowerment and I was here for it. Good acting, great location scenery and women fighting back. Cliche at times but I enjoyed the film. Director Howard J. Ford previous films The Dead and The Dead 2 were also good movies, as a horror fan I am waiting for The Dead part 3. But I will recommend this movie Escape, I am all for empowering women & I am predicting this will be the year for women. Good Job 💙

Feels like it was made on an iPhone, editing is bad and I got nauseous with the amount of zooming into shot when an actor has dialogue and then loads of unnecessary cutting. They obviously had a budget to hire a drone for some unnecessary aerial shots but they actually seemed to be the best bits! Once you get past the cut & zoom style you then have the really bad accents and poor acting. Story is thin so you expect action but again disappointing, it's slow and very predictable. My guess is It's trying to be Revenge but lacks any empowerment. It actually is like the director handed his mates some phones on holiday met some women at a bar and said let's make a film while we are here ....Avoid.

Overall, I enjoyed this film, although it did seem to be a lower-budget version of 'Taken', but instead of Liam Neeson kicking ass, there are numerous hot 'blondes' doing it. Combining their superior psyche, these females exploit the machismo, one-dimensional nature of the villains, especially in the final act. That being said, I thought the actors cast as the antagonists did a good job. In particular, I enjoyed the camaraderie and 'friendship' between the eyepatch character and his Eastern European accomplice (Jon-Paul Gates, who I have seen in other films). Even though both were abducting and raping women at will, I thought their character traits personified the Eastern European mafia, where loyalty is not as important as greed and self-aggrandisement. When Gates attempts to drive the car, bleeding profusely, and Eyepatch asserts he can't drive, is hilarious! Some amusing moments in between the carnage of sex trafficking!

Great setting and scenery, the plot is as you'd expect for this type of film, so you know what you're getting but it's solid and an easy watch.

The female characters are, on the whole, portrayed as having both beauty and brains, as they ultimately outsmart their captors and escape. Ok, you may question how a small group of petite young women in skimpy dresses and high heels can run through the desert and take down a ruthless criminal gang...but it's a movie, it's fiction and in this move, that's what they do, and it's positive to see this portrayed.

I think some of the acting is very good, and being honest, some of it is a bit questionable, but it doesn't detract from the overall film. The bad guys / criminals all fit the bill very well, and the lead female roles are solid. A few of the performances are a bit 'Made in Chelsea / I want to look like I'm crying but really I'm not', but all in all, the film does what it says on the tin and delivers on its promise.

I think it is a bit like if the Made in Chelsea lot went on holiday and got captured, and you'll probably see this and know what you're getting from the trailer, so if it's not for you, don't watch the film.

Overall: an easy watch, enjoyable, some good performances, great scenery / settings, good to see female characters in the stronger, hero, come-out-on-top roles.

Ten young women are kidnapped by sex traffickers. And, given the title, I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say they try to escape.

You might remember the director from The Dead, a zombie film set in Africa. I kind of liked that. This is a bit more of a traditional exploitation movie. Lots of youngish women in revealing clothes running around, trying to escape brutish guys.

The interesting thing about Escape is that the women fight back. Instead of just screaming for help, they throw punches and sometimes rocks. The fight choreography is a bit poor, but I liked that they made the effort. A lot of these kinds of thrillers get kind of annoying and repetitive with all the running and screaming.

It feels a bit long even at 90 minutes, but it's certainly watchable. There are also maybe too many characters. It's easier to keep a dozen characters straight when they're dressed and styled differently, but these are all youngish blondes in beach outfits. There was a nurse who was pretty cool, but the others kind of blended together.

If you're in the mood for a B movie, you might as well give it a try. If you're looking for something more than that, skip it.