CIA agent Jessica Miller (Caitriona Balfe) offers security expert Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone) five million dollars if he will abandon his usual protocols and go deep undercover in a top secret prison designed to hold the men that society wants locked up for life.
Despite the misgivings of his right-hand woman Abigail (Amy Ryan) and technical genius Hush (50 Cent), Ray agrees and adopts the guise of a Spanish terrorist called Portos.
He quickly realises that the mission is bogus and Ray is imprisoned for real under the watchful glare of sadistic warden Hobbes (Jim Caviezel) and his murderous henchman, Drake (Vinnie Jones).
With no obvious means of escape from a state-of-the-art facility full of Perspex cells, Ray befriends fellow inmate Rottmayer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and on-site medic Dr Kyrie (Sam Neill), and a daring plan takes shape.
Book-ended by two hare-brained breakouts, which rely as much on meticulous planning as good fortune, Escape Plan is a preposterous yet entertaining thriller that unites two of cinema's great action heroes.
Mikael Hafstrom's film is an undeniable guilty pleasure, energised by breathless direction and a script cowritten by Miles Chapman and Arnell Jesko that keeps us on our toes.
DAMON SMITH
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