Written by Tom Moore
When I saw the trailer for Escape Room, I thought that it was just cashing in on a trend and would be a legitimately terrible movie. It came off like a rip-off of other torture films that would be filled with PG-13 horror and characters that are just annoying tropes. Now, Escape Room doesn’t necessarily escape those initial thoughts, but the film was way more fun and creative than I ever thought it could be.
In a similar way to Saw II or Cube, Escape Room follows a group of strangers stuck in a game of survival. They think they are coming into a normal escape room, where they will have to use clues hidden in the room to earn a $10,000 prize. However, the game becomes fatal as the rooms turn into death traps and these strangers must not only figure out why they were all chosen, but also how to get out of each room.
I have to say, there is a sense of tension that can be felt as the rooms slowly change, or a new level of challenge is added. Especially when the Eight Ball Room turned into“musical chairs” as Petula Clark’s ‘Downtown’ scores the scene; there’s a level of unsureness that is well-executed as the characters had to find a way to move around the room without touching the falling floor panels.
Even with these inventive and original moments, though, there’s a strong level of predictability with the characters that took me out of the movie.The six strangers are definitely tropes that basically follow like this: the smart quiet girl (Taylor Russell), the druggie (Logan Miller), the “jock” personality (Jay Ellis), the nerd (Nik Dodani), the athletic girl (Deborah Ann Woll), and the “dad” character (Tyler Labine). Their connection, though, that makes them stand out is actually pretty interesting and made me a little more invested in the characters.
They also have fun lines and banter with one another that make it easy to laugh along with them in slower parts, but these characters ultimately just carry the same kind of paranoia and distrust that has been seen before.Even their deaths feel a little predictable because of screen-time and these kinds of tropes, which felt like it took some of the suspense and surprise was taken away once they bit the dust.
Not to mention, the film kind of ruin edits own suspense and story. It basically opens with a scene of one of the characters trying to escape a room that is shown again later in the film and it basically undercuts all the suspense leading up to that part. This isn’t to say that other films like Escape Room don’t have this sense of predictability and that others won’t mind it as much as me, but it’s a little hard for me to give it that kind of credit when I saw plenty of potential to be something great.
This kind of feeling especially came towards the film’s ending. The film’s ending lacks a sense of surprise when the surviving players find out what has been really going on.
Spoilers ahead!
When they meet the “Game Master,” the moment lacks any sort of strong impact as it didn’t really link back to plot or wasn’t some plot twist with a character we had seen before like the characters suggest early on. It actually gets worse once the surviving players escape and they basically have to become heroes to take down an evil corporation.
It kind of reminds me of The Belko Experiment’s ending and it made me feel like it comes out of nowhere and only exists to set up sequels or possibly a franchise. We even get to see what this evil corporation looks like at the end and it’s so underwhelming and generic that I couldn’t care less if a sequel with this story came.
The best way to describe the feelings this kind of ending gives is with a reaction I heard as I left the theater: I could hear a man saying, “Well, I guess they’re getting a sequel” with very little interest or emotion. This kind of ending leaves little to be desired and has a plot that makes audiences feel nothing about a sequel instead of surprise or joy that another Escape Room movie is on the way.
Escape Room definitely showed me that it tries to be a uniquely fun time for audiences, but it also kind of showed me its true colors by sticking to “the usual stuff” and an ending that made me care less instead of wanting more.
Rating: 5/10
