Escape Room (Review)
The first genre movie of 2019 relies on suspense rather than gore for a thrilling good time.
There are obvious Saw comparisons to be made with Escape Room, which tells the story of six strangers who are invited to an escape room that turns out to be deadly. After being introduced to our six characters, all of whom are more fleshed out than expected in a movie like this, director Adam Robitel floors the gas pedal and puts them in increasingly compromising situations. The visual flair and characters are what makes this movie work, despite some flaws.
The first and most obvious positive of this movie is the set design. Every room is meticulously put together, much like an actual escape room, and each one has a different way of dispatching the characters. The rooms vary, from a room designed to look like television static to an upside-down bar room, the latter of which hosts one of the most nail biting sequences in the entire movie. The best part of each room, however, is the way it draws out information about our characters. Little by little, we learn more about why our characters are here and the secrets they’re hiding.
The cast of relative unknowns puts in good work here as well. Each of the characters have distinct personalities, and are elevated by the actors that inhabit them. It was nice to see a movie with relative unknowns (the biggest name is arguably Deborah Ann Woll), as the characters were free from the distraction of the actor behind them. Logan Miller does great work as Ben, a down-on-his-luck loser working in the backroom of a grocery store. Deborah Ann Woll is fantastic in the role of a traumatized soldier, proving to be a force of nature both emotionally and physically. There is no doubt that she could be the star of her own action franchise.
Director Adam Robitel also proves to be a master of suspense, leaning more on Hitchcock-esque build up and moving away from the graphic violence and gore that Final Destination and Saw utilized. For gorehounds, that may be a strike against this movie, but the lack of torture and gore is precisely what makes this movie different (and more accessible to a wider audience). Robitel knows exactly where to put the camera to maximize tension, and in certain areas, he ratchets it up to near unbearable levels. The centerpiece of this movie is the bar room scene, the crowning achievement of the movie that had me quite literally on the edge of my seat.
The movie does tend to lose a little bit of steam in certain scenes. The opening scene places us well into the third act before jumping back in time. It’s an odd choice to make — the opening scene is an attention grabber, certainly, but it comes at the expense of losing audience attention in a later scene. The movie also doesn’t quite know when to end. A scene that should have cut to the end credits didn’t, and the movie just…continued. The ending wasn’t necessarily bad, but the epilogue would have made a great opening to the sequel which is obviously coming, especially with the movie’s over-performance at the box office. In this movie, it felt tacked on and unnecessary.
Escape Room certainly doesn’t attempt to break the mold, but as far as these films go, this is a fun one to spend an hour and a half in. The character work, tension, and fun set design go a long ways to make this movie feel unique even while checking off familiar boxes. Much like last year’s A Quiet Place, I would recommend seeing this on the big screen, as it deserves to be an immersive experience. Suspense junkies, this film is for you. Grow your nails out for this one, folks.
