Escape Room

photo courtesy of bustle.com

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

     In Escape Room, six strangers enter a contest: break out of a state of the art escape room, win $10,000. Easy, right? But once the group enters the room, things get a bit more complicated. These puzzles aren’t just frustrating, they’re lethal. If the players want to make it out alive, they’ll have to work together to outsmart the game itself. Escape Room stars Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Deborah Ann Woll, Tyler Labine, Jay Ellis, and Nik Dodani.

     The trailers for Escape Room pretty much hit the nail on the head, so your reaction to those should give you a good indication of whether the movie’s worth your time. The basic premise is Saw minus the gore; it’s all about 1) finding clever ways to avoid deadly traps 2) watching some players not find clever ways to avoid deadly traps, and 3) learning about the shadowy figure who organizes these games for some nefarious purpose.

photo courtesy of geektyrant.com

     The cons fall in line with what you’d expect. It’s silly, predictable, and the characterization and acting are sloppy. Even Deborah Ann Woll of Daredevil fame (which, why/how is she in this?) seems to be phoning it in. And given the overt similarity to Saw (and that entire subgenre of horror), it all seems rather cliché.

     But Escape Room holds some interest when it comes to the puzzles themselves. The sets are elaborate and sometimes exciting, the traps create genuine tension, and when the movie lets the audience in on the puzzle solving, there’s some joy in deciphering the clues alongside the characters. If that appeals to you—or if you’re just looking for some mindless entertainment on this January weekend—Escape Room has you covered. If that’s not you, you’re not missing much.

Escape Room is rated PG-13 for terror/perilous action, violence, some suggestive material, and language. 

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