Movie: No Escape

Well here’s a turn up! This is the first film in a few where none of the trailers were terrible. As the last couple of films I’ve seen were bad, this bodes well.Not an actor I’m ordinarily drawn to watch, here’s Owen Wilson in serious movie. And it’s actually OK. I expected more a of a thriller, but there isn’t that much of mystery to solve here. We know from the off that a family with two young children arrive in a South East Asian country to start a new life/job and immediately the city is under attack from rebellious citizens who don’t want the western presence.To me, what remains a mystery for a while is who Pierce Brosnan’s character is (always worth a watch). He’s British, was on the same plane as the family and obviously knows this territory but is he really a good guy?The characters are immediately thrown into turmoil as they check into their company-expensed hotel, where all the Americans stay. As the coup progresses and gets ever more violent, we see the significance of the large photo of Jack (Wilson) displayed in reception as a welcoming gesture. The rebels are executing anyone with an American accent.Jack, is no Bruce Willis but sets about protecting his family, but first he has to go past hundreds of people carrying guns to get back to them.As is often the case, it’s the female character that is most annoying although in this case, the wife only has one stupid moment that leads them both to the brink of death while their young daughters watch in horror as they are held and beaten.Other than that, the kids were the most annoying, I just wanted to scream ‘you do understand what hurt means? You have seen men shooting and hitting people? Be quiet and sit still is not a request, it’s an order to save your life!’ But you don’t know how any of us are going to react under extreme pressure, we certainly don’t expect any of our loved ones to kill another human being in front of us in order to save our lives.I’m tense from about 3 minutes in – after Brosnan has another attempt at doing karaoke on film. And indeed, the welcome laughs we enjoy to relieve the tension, all come from his character.7½/10Smile factor 5/10 (it’s just not that sort of film)