Every major actor/actress often has a film on their resume which stands out as largely paling in comparison to the quality of their overall body of work with audiences finding themselves questioning their involvement in such a project. Add to that, a sequel which virtually nobody asked for to an original film that wasn't very good to begin with. Audiences clearly have and will most certainly ponder over those questions while watching Escape Plan 2: Hades, which brings back Sylvester Stallone from the first film which he co-starred with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Here, audiences are left wondering about the need for an Escape Plan 2 when the first wasn't exactly a box office smash nor a strong enough film to leave anybody particularly craving for one. Receiving a direct-to-video release this time in comparison to the first films theatrical showing, Stallone's role is reduced to about a good 20 minutes of screentime tops with Dave Bautista, Curtis 50 Cent Jackson, Huang Xiaoming, Jaime King, Jesse Metcalfe, Titus Welliver, and Wes Chatman joining the series cast. With such an interesting and strong cast of actors/actresses, it's a legitimate shame that they didn't have much better material to work off. Escape Plan 2: Hades is not just a disappointing sequel for those who enjoyed the first Escape Plan, it's an all around pointless and badly made sequel that feels unnecessary and ultimately ranks as being one of the worst films Stallone's ever been apart of.
The plot for Escape Plan 2: Hades takes place years after the events of the first film with Ray Breslin (Played by Sylvester Stallone) organizing a new top-notch security force after fighting his way out of an inescapable prison. Upon discovering that one of his team members went missing, Breslin realizes that in order to rescue him, he must return to the prison he once narrowly escaped from. While watching Escape Plan 2, the audience finds themselves asking two questions during the entire ordeal such as why did Stallone allow himself to be apart of this film if his role was going to be largely reduced this time around, with the second question being why wasn't Arnold Schwarzenegger brought back as well. The storyline for Escape Plan 2: Hades feels both uninspired and poorly written with no real thought being put into trying to develop the main characters from the first one nor improve on that films issues. Escape Plan 2: Hades is a sequel that has no point of existing other than being a quick cash grab for fans of Stallone. This is one of the worst films the latter as ever starred in as there's really not much for his character to do throughout most of the film. The new characters don't appeal to audiences nor share the same on screen presence that both Schwarzenegger and Stallone shared in the first Escape Plan. While that film wasn't particularly memorable, it at least had its main leads to guide the audience through its painfully generic story. There isn't one character shown in Escape Plan 2 that audiences ever find themselves latching onto, not even Stallone's this time. Designed as being an action and mystery thriller, Hades royally fails on both counts with the whole experience being a largely forgettable one for audiences once they finish it. The first Escape Plan wasn't a good enough film to prompt a follow-up with the greatest insult being directed towards those, who actually did enjoy that film being how little the crew behind Hades actually tried to make the second one work. The new film serves as being a lifeless and lazily written follow-up to the first film, which should've always remained as being a standalone film.
Generally the acting performances from the cast can help to make up for the shortcomings of certain films in regards to both writing and directing. That doesn't appear to be the case here with the cast for Escape Plan 2 feeling as if everyone essentially phoned in their performances to receive a paycheck. There isn't any performance in the film that stands out as being genuinely impressive nor scene-stealing with everyone delivering passable work at best. The lack of enthusiasm from the main cast directed towards the project shows with Stallone appearing as if he's only in the film for the sake of both continuity, along with receiving a paycheck. Here he reprises his role of escaped prisoner Ray Breslin from the first film, now a leader of a security company that's met a reasonable amount of success. Stallone isn't given much to do here with his part, and mostly just phones in his performance for both continuity and money sake. The most insulting aspect of the film is how willing it is to waste Stallone's talent as both an actor and writer-director with this poor excuse of a sequel. Along with Stallone feeling both unneeded for the sequel as well as being enormously underused, Guardians Of The Galaxy's Dave Bautista also carries a similar feel in terms of him being wasted in the film as Trent DeRosa, a former associate of Breslin security. It's neither Bautista's fault or Stallone's in terms of why such talented actors are being horribly underused in this film with the newer faces lacking the charisma of both stars. Huang Xiaoming, Jesse Metcalfe, and 50 Cent deliver serviceable performances as Shu Ren, the protege of Breslin, Metcalfe as Lucas, also a protege of Breslin, and Cent as Brains computer hacker Hush. Wes Chatham tries his hand as Jasper Kimbral, Breslin's former protege turned warden of Hades prison, who seeks revenge on Breslin. Chatman's character serves as being the main antagonists of the story, though his character comes across as being extremely one-dimensional and poorly written in comparison to Jim Caviezel's role as the evil Warden in the first film. Jaime King also makes the most of her part as Vice President of Breslin Security, Abigail Ross. The performances in Escape plan 2: Hades are exactly what one would expect from this type of production, which are to be painfully average with no real inspiration or emotion behind them. No one appears to be enthusiastic about being apart of this project with it being glaringly obvious to those watching it. While the acting in the first Escape Plan wasn't anything spectacular either, the audience at the very least had the back-and-forth chemistry between Stallone and Schwarzenegger to rely on as well as Jim Caviezel's performance as the films main villain.
In addition to the performances being lackluster, not much can also be said about the films directorial efforts. The directing by Steven C. Miller feels uninspired and lacks genuine excitement for bringing the sequel to the big screen. The work that Miller gives the film feels relatively standard for a modern direct-to-video feature with zero risks being taken filmmaking wise in regards to creativity, as well as craftsmanship. Much of the action that Miller gives the film falls within the category of being formulaic with the pacing both keeping the film moving briskly, while keeping the action frequent with it largely consisting of martial arts violence. The battle sequences from the first film remain present in the sequel with the weaponary being used by the prisoners being high-powered. The violence shown consists of generic punches, kicks, and characters being brutally tortured and killed. The cinematography is average work at best with the editing allowing for a brisk pace along with quick cuts during the films action sequences. The films score consists of music borrowed from the first film composed by the Newton Brothers. In terms of the films technical elements, Escape Plan 2: Hades attempts to create the same kind of dark and gritty atmosphere of the first film with less satisfying results this time. Nothing about the work put into the film by its filmmaker shows excitement about making this sequel. Although the film remains consistent with the level of action it carries, nothing will stand out as being truly memorable in the audiences mind long after its over because of how generic everything feels.
Along with Hades poor production values, the script commits the greatest assault on the films quality with the writing by Miles Chapman being poorly handled, as well as lacking any form of substance. Despite being set-up as being a follow-up to Escape Plan, the sequel feels as if it aims to distant itself from the original while loosely connecting it by including Stallone's character in a brief role to help bridge the two stories together. Though Breslin returns in the sequel, his character isn't given much to do this time around with the audience being genuinely disappointed that Stallone isn't a consistent lead throughout the film. Instead of his character being the main central focus, audiences are treated to Huang Xiaoming's character being the main lead. Although Xiaoming gives off a decent vibe of being an action star, his character is too paper-thin for him to be considered more interesting or compelling than Breslin's. The character development presented here is flat with the audience finding themselves not being able to connect with any of the main characters dilemma, nor finds their plot to escape from the brutal prison even remotely compelling. The plot is presented as being dry and feeling slapped together without much thought or effort being put into it. The first Escape Plan carried with it themes pertaining to betrayal, ambition, greed, privately owned prisons, and prison escape with an overall message that emphasized not giving up as well as stressing the knowledge of whom one can trust while always ensuring they have a plan B. While the sequel lifts many of the themes from the first movie and incorporates them into its script, it does so with little effort in regards to exploring them further. The Hades prison is never explored more in-depth nor the politics behind the insistence of having the prisoners fight each other. The film carries with it brief yet ineffective moments of humor such as Bautista's character quickly solving a Rubix cube infront of a computer geek. The relationship between his character and Breslin's is shown but is presented as being so vague that audiences find themselves not caring much. The script for Escape Plan 2: Hades had potential to go further with the main films themes and story, but instead sacrifices both story and character growth for more action.
As pale of a film that Escape Plan was in its attempts to replicate the 1980's action film tone with a plot that closely resembles other films of that era (Stallone's Lock Up comes to mind), there was a certain amount of fun in seeing both Schwarzenegger and Stallone together on the big screen. Whereas the film surrounding them essentially fell apart, they provided audiences with a much-anticipated lifeline to get through that films whole ordeal. With Escape Plan 2, there's no lifeline that's present with nothing to help ease the audiences experience of enduring the films 105 minute running time. One cannot understand why this film was chosen as being a direct-to-video feature instead of a full-blown Hollywood production like the original with virtually every element of the sequel being worse than the first in regards to quality. The production for this film is both sloppily handled and graceless with audiences ultimately being frustrated at why both the studio as well as Stallone bothered to do a follow-up to the first if they weren't going to give it the full effort required in order for it to properly work. The film is so badly made and heartless that even action movie junkies won't find much enjoyment in watching it. The only escape plan that audiences should be thinking about ultimately, is a way to avoid watching this completely pointless and unnecessary sequel as it ultimately adds up to being a total waste of time. Escape Plan 2: Hades has the misfortune of ranking as being one of the worst action movie sequels ever made in a vein similar to Speed 2: Cruise Control with that film possessing more watchability due to its awfulness unlike Hades.
Final Verdict: Fans of the first Escape Plan or Sylvester Stallone in particular should avoid Escape Plan 2: Hades at all costs, and seek a more satisfying action film experience.
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