The Wonderful World of DTV: Director Steven C.Miller's Escape Plan 2: Hades - 2018

Released five years ago, the original Escape Plan (2013) may seem like a strange film to build a franchise on. An enjoyable action thriller, sold on the team up of Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the film, although enjoyable, was initially a financial failure.

Upon release it was unsuccessful at the American box office, raking in only $25.1 million, amounting to around half of the film’s budget.

Luckily the film ended up being a smash hit internationally, landing the number one spot in many European and Asian territories. The film would go on to gross just under $140 million in total at the box office, hence why we have this belated sequel.

Sadly Escape Plan 2: Hades (2018) turns out to be less the sum of its parts, paling in comparison with its predecessor.

The first movie centred on security specialist Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone) who makes his living by designing escape proof penitentiaries. He finds himself framed and locked up in a remote prison which he designed. He then has to team up with fellow inmate Rottmayer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) to find out who set him up as well as plot his escape.

Considering Escape Plan starred two of the biggest action stars in the world, it was surprisingly light on action, with the majority of its action scenes coming in the last third of the film. This was a minor disappointment, as it was good just to see Stallone and Schwarzenegger share the screen.

They of course briefly co-starred in The Expendables (2010) and its sequel beforehand, but this was the first substantial role Schwarzenegger had alongside Stallone, as his Expendables appearances are no more than cameo’s.

Schwarzenegger misses this sequel out, with the only two returning cast members from the original being Stallone and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. Even then the two mainly take supporting roles, with the focus being on the new cast members this time.

This isn’t surprising, as when the film was originally announced, it was reported that Stallone would be returning albeit in a supporting role. However he still gets top billing, which is clearly for marketing purposes.

The true lead of the film is Chinese star Huang Xiaoming, who stars as Breslin’s protégé Shu Ren. He is introduced in a decently put together action scene that is let down by some of the poorest special effects to appear in a recent mainstream production. An explosion during this sequence is especially fake looking. Unfortunately as the film progresses, the effects work doesn’t get any better, but in some respects this works in its favour, making the film feel like a Cannon production from the 1980’s.

The plot is similar to the first film, with the lead character finding himself kidnapped and imprisoned in a secret and impenetrable prison. From this he plans his breakout, picking up allies along the way. Meanwhile, Breslin and the rest of his team are working outside to free him.

In comparison to the original movie, which at least stayed in the realms of plausibility, Escape Plan 2: Hades fully embraces the sci-fi aspects of the plot, with their being robot guards and virtual reality cells. It is also set in a prison that changes shape like a Rubik’s cube in order to disorientate the prisoners and make escape impossible. Any attempts at realism are quickly thrown out the window.

Original Helmer Mikael Hafstrom doesn’t return to the director’s chair for this outing, with DTV expert Steven C Miller taking his place. I have written quite a bit of Miller in the past, and how he is one of the bright spots in the DTV market.

When Miller was announced as the director of Escape Plan 2: Hades, I was hoping that this would pave his way into the major leagues, as the man clearly has the talent. Sadly, like most of Miller’s output, the film was unceremoniously released straight to VOD, with it only getting a limited cinema release in certain countries.

Upon looking at the completed film, this is understandable, as it feels more at home as a VOD release than a theatrical film. This isn’t to take away from the work that Miller has done on the project, as he does his usual professional work, although he has been restricted by his budget and the limited screen time of his lead actor.

This isn’t the first time that Miller has had to work around the availability of his star. The three films he made with Bruce Willis, Extraction (2015), Marauders (2016) and First Kill (2017) all featured the actor in a limited capacity with Miller having to build the film around his supporting cast.

Miller does the same here, with varying degrees of success. Huang Xiaoming does well as the film’s true lead. Whilst some of his line delivery is stilted due to his proficiency with the English language, he just about manages to get by on his charisma. As well as this, Huang is featured in the majority of the film’s action scenes, and although stunt doubled for certain parts, equips himself well.  

Working in films and television from the late 1990’s, Huang has risen to be one of China’s most popular actors, appearing in such smash hits as The White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom (2014), The Crossing (2014) and more recently Mission Milano (2016).

Before Escape Plan 2: Hades, the closest Huang came to an international role was his supporting turn in Chinese-American co-production, Hollywood Adventures (2015). Produced by Justin Lin, Huang co-starred starring alongside superstar Zhao Wei.

In regards to Stallone, he is his usual dependable self. Possibly he took a back seat due to his age, as at 71 he isn’t getting any younger. He still holds his own alongside his younger co-stars and gets in on the action when required.  One of the film’s better action scenes is a short bar-room shootout featuring him and Dave Bautista, where they take on a number of gangsters, which is suitably violent. The only issue with this scene is the addition of digital blood, which like most of the films CGI, is poor.

The previously mentioned Dave Bautista is the other notable co-star of the film. His role is more than an extended cameo, and whilst he gets in on some of the action his part only amounts to around ten minutes of screen time. This marks the second film of Miller’s that Bautista has appeared in, with him having a supporting role in the earlier Marauders.

Bautista is definitely on a roll at the moment, with him co-starring in one of the highest grossing films ever made, Avengers: Infinity War (2018), with the sequel to follow.  As well as Marvel blockbusters he has the indie action movie Hotel Artemis (2018), Master Z: Ip Man Legacy (2018) and Final Score (2018), which finds him working again with director Scott Mann after their previous venture Heist (2015). 

The excellent Titus Welliver is on villain duties, but is mainly wasted in an expository role, with him only there to explain the plot to our heroes. He does get a single action scene, having a one on one fight with Huang Xiaoming during the finale, but other than this there is nothing noteworthy to his role. It pales in comparison to the work he has been doing recently on the television show Bosch (2014).

Rounding out the rest of the supporting cast is the reliable Jamie King, who is wasted in a small role as one of Stallone’s assistants. King fared better the last time she teamed up with Steven C Miller, playing the lead role in Silent Night (2012).

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson will never be considered a thespian, but he seems to have only been included because he was in the first film. More screen time is given to Jesse Metcalfe, who has the look of an action hero, but still manages to be unconvincing. Perhaps this is due the stigma of being associated with shows like Desperate Housewives (2004) and the more recent Chesapeake Shores (2016).

Faring better is Wes Chatham who gets to play the more interesting Jaspar Kimbral, an ex-member of Stallone’s crew. Chatham is no stranger to the DTV market, starring in the martial arts drama The Philly Kid (2012), where he apparently performed all his own stunts. He doesn’t get as much action here, but still gets involved in some of the films fight scenes.  

Eagle eyed viewers may also spot Steven C. Miller regulars Tyler Jon Olson and Lydia Hull. Hull actually appeared in the first Escape Plan but it would seem that the receptionist she played that time has been upped to field agent.  

Like most of Steven C. Millers work of late, Escape Plan 2: Hades is produced by Emmet/Furla/Oasis, who produced the first film in the series. Typically their output consists of DTV fare with the odd theatrical release thrown in such as Lone Survivor (2013) but looking at their upcoming productions, almost all of them appear to VOD releases other than the troubled Gotti (2018). Escape Plan 2: Hades is clearly one of their cheaper productions, which may be down to the film being co-financed by Chinese production company Leomus Pictures.  

Miles Chapman who wrote the first film returns to pen the sequel. Any humour that the original film had is sorely lacking. Considering how silly the premise is everything is played deadly serious, other than a few one liners delivered by Stallone and Bautista.

Outside of the Escape Plan franchise, the only other writing credits Chapman has is for DTV effort Road House 2: Last Call (2006), a better than it should be sequel starring Steven C. Miller regular Johnathon Schaech, and episodes of the short-lived television series Cybergeddon (2012). Here’s hoping he is able to inject some more fun into the upcoming Escape Plan 3: Devil’s Station.

Escape Plan 2: Hades marks the fifth time that Steven C.Miller has employed the skills of cinematographer Brandon Cox, with him previously shooting Extraction, Marauders, Arsenal (2017) and First Kill. Cox always does good work when collaborating with Miller, and manages to create some nice images here, but is let down by the limited budget. There is additionally more reliance on shaky cam, especially during the action scenes. It’s probable that this was used to cover the physical limitations of the cast, but does become slightly obtrusive. Still Cox can’t be faulted, as he does the best with what he’s got, and Miller must have been happy to employ him for his next feature.

Vincent Tabaillon begun editing Steven C. Millers films with Extraction, but sat his last film, First Kill out. He returns to the fold, with him as usual keeping everything moving at a decent pace.

Composers The Newton Brothers contribute a synth heavy score that is one of the better aspects of the film and is a nice accompaniment to the on screen action. More of their fine work can be heard in recent releases Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016) and Gerald’s Game (2016).

I feel bad that I did not like Escape Plan2: Hades more, as it can be an enjoyable enough action movie taken in the proper context. The main problem is the lowered budget and with advertising it as a Sylvester Stallone vehicle, which may upset many fans when they realise his screen time is limited.

Additionally I am a big fan of the director, and was really hoping the best with this release, not just for Miller, but as a fan of the first film I thought there was potential to make an even better sequel. Here’s hoping Miller’s next film is more successful, the real time thriller Live (2018), with Aaron Eckhart headlining.

As previously mentioned, there is a further instalment to come in the Escape Plan franchise, Escape Plan 3: Devil’s Station. Steven C. Miller isn’t returning for this third entry, with John Herzfeld taking over directorial duties.

Herzfeld has worked with Stallone previously, with him directing the documentary Inferno: The Making of the Expendables (2010) as well as Collection (2014), a drama which Stallone played a small role in.

As well as Stallone, Dave Bautista, Jamie King and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson will be returning, although Huang Xiaoming seems to be missing from the line-up. In his place is another Chinese star, the terrific Zhang Jin. Martial arts fans may know him from Sha Po Lang 2 (2015) Ip Man 3 (2015) and The Brink (2017). He can next be seen in the previously mentioned Master Z: Ip Man Legacy, where he will be sharing the screen with Escape Plan 3 co-star Dave Bautista.    

Here’s hoping that the final part in the trilogy is a suitable end to the series.

Escape Plan 2: Hades is released on DVD/Blu-Ray and VOD on Friday 29th June. I would still recommend fans to pick it up to show their support.