Escape Room 2: No Way Out

Where the first part benefitted from an interesting beginning (puzzles in a cube), an introduction to the scape room (a nerd explaining the rules) and a gripping ending that set up the sequel, the second part fundamentally misses the mark. After the introduction to the plot, we are served "only" the escape rooms and the conclusion that we all kind of suspect will happen. The characters are uninteresting and have little scope apart from the two leads, the rooms are again cool and stylish, but the believability of their execution is so out of touch with reality that it hurts, and even if I turned a blind eye, it's still impossible. The solutions to the puzzles are pretty damn complex, but the characters figure them out in a matter of seconds and get to the happy ending every time. No emotion, suspense, or opportunity for viewers to think about the denouement for themselves. Likewise, the characters' speeches in the lines of “Oh no, he died for me, he was my only friend and he sacrificed himself so I could live" are so annoying; sentimental ramblings about as unlikely as the fact that radical vaccine opponents will have an IQ over 60. And there are plenty of them in the film. The attempt at one (I won't mention) twist at the end struck me as uninteresting and pointless, and again and again rather absurdly unnecessary. A bland, boring film, without any significant feeling or a more brilliant idea, just a another commercial sequel to a successful first part, nothing more. It doesn't offend significantly, but it certainly doesn't excite either, and the ambition was higher. (18.07.2021)

How it is when you're sitting in front of the screen, nostalgically reminiscing about, say, Saw IV, and you're miserable. But if you take into account the chronology of when the Saw franchise spawned that very trend of actual escape rooms (one of the most hellish challenges of the bourgeois lifestyle), which subsequently made its way back into cinemas, only reduced by macabre violence and that comical moralistic veneer, you'll find that you've actually found yourself in an escape room as the audience, tasked with not necessarily getting into every obviously profit-driven piece of crap just to keep your outlook on film up to date. But is it really that hard to find actors who maybe can't act, but can at least run? Or screenwriters who have ever been around what it looks like when two people are having fun? (12.10.2021)

The second part is almost as nourishing as the first, but I am afraid that this franchise will soon become a new victim of money-making and end up similar to the Saw series. It's hard for me to find any differences between the first and second parts, I enjoyed it almost identically and I still remember most of it. Although the script slowly but surely gains visible pulling by the hair, it's such an undemanding guilty pleasure popcorn movie for the masses that will probably continue to attract people to the cinema. (08.11.2021)

The sequel to the successful Escape Room is similarly solid, and anyone who likes these variations on Cube and Saw as much as I do shouldn't grumble. The sequel picks up right after the first film and this time we watch an unsuspecting group tackle the escape room, except that they are all former champions – they are smarter, and so solving the puzzles isn't such a problem for them, though they are certainly challenging for the audience. Again, the film is PG-13, so we have to do without the gore, but in this case it doesn't really matter that much, as the deaths wouldn't have looked any better in a different rating. The design of the escape rooms is impressive, the puzzles are nicely intricate, no tension is spared, and the whole thing is well and intelligently thought out enough that you have no chance of getting bored as they go from room to room. Completely realistic it may not be, but that's a good thing, as if it kept it down to earth it would be as boring as real life. The final unexpected twist was also nice, so for me, a fine respite and entertaining genre film, of which there aren't many, so I have no problem giving it a higher rating. Story 3/5, Action 4/5, Humour 0/5, Violence 0/5, Fun 4/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 4/5, Emotions 3/5, Actors 3/5. 7/10. (13.09.2021)