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Released in 2016, The Escape is the final short from the BMW series The Hire, which features Clive Owen as an unnamed driver, assigned with various tasks. The series started in 2001, continuing on in 2002, and then stopping before this final outing. So, much like the driver character, Owen has been doing this "for a long time" and he's indeed "very good at it".
In The Escape, the driver is tasked with transporting Lily (Dakota Fanning) to an unknown client while escorted by a mercenary called Holt (Jon Bernthal). The thing is that Lily is a clone created by Molecular Genetics whose illegal activities have just been exposed. Their "escape" takes place just as the FBI is raiding the facility.
As they're driving, the subsequent interactions with Lily and the mistreatment of her by Holt seem to force the driver to a moral dilemma, where he decides to dump Holt and take Lily to safety. This, of course, gives him the opportunity to drive a BMW G30 really fast for all our potential customers to see.
Like some of the ones I just reviewed, it might feel a bit silly to have this driver involved in such situations that now extend even into cloning... but as long as the action setpieces are competently done, they're accomplishing what they set out to do. The whole chase is well choreographed, Bernthal and Fanning are great, and Blonkamp shows that he knows what he's doing.
Grade:
THE ESCAPE
(2016, Blonkamp)
(2016, Blonkamp)
"I might be a little rusty right now, but I've been doing this for a long time. I'm very good at it."
Released in 2016, The Escape is the final short from the BMW series The Hire, which features Clive Owen as an unnamed driver, assigned with various tasks. The series started in 2001, continuing on in 2002, and then stopping before this final outing. So, much like the driver character, Owen has been doing this "for a long time" and he's indeed "very good at it".
In The Escape, the driver is tasked with transporting Lily (Dakota Fanning) to an unknown client while escorted by a mercenary called Holt (Jon Bernthal). The thing is that Lily is a clone created by Molecular Genetics whose illegal activities have just been exposed. Their "escape" takes place just as the FBI is raiding the facility.
As they're driving, the subsequent interactions with Lily and the mistreatment of her by Holt seem to force the driver to a moral dilemma, where he decides to dump Holt and take Lily to safety. This, of course, gives him the opportunity to drive a BMW G30 really fast for all our potential customers to see.
Like some of the ones I just reviewed, it might feel a bit silly to have this driver involved in such situations that now extend even into cloning... but as long as the action setpieces are competently done, they're accomplishing what they set out to do. The whole chase is well choreographed, Bernthal and Fanning are great, and Blonkamp shows that he knows what he's doing.
Grade: