Breakout (2023)

Los Angeles. A kid fucks up and shoots a cop. A father - former Black Ops - tries to get him out of prison.

I think that's what it might all be about but then we turn to a prison hearing for parole, with a high risk convict, former terrorist, mannered but macabre, who for some reason wants to stall for time...

I could've done without the fake explosions. Or bullets. Or smoke.

It started so well - and continued well for a while.

The confrontation between father and convict-son-suddenly-on-side-with-mass-murderer was surprisingly raw and emotional, and the fights aren't all bad, but some are.

They're rarely realistic either. Some dialogs are too long. The police also just seem to be lounging around outside the building after they first pull up - like with that school shooting gone wrong in Texas a year or so ago...

They don't catch the desperation well at all for the most part of the movie, and though the main villain initially has plenty of clout and sinister charisma - he seems powerful even without the physicality for it - that power wanes overtime. You never see him die but you know he's gonna, and when the convict son comes out of the prison - his father leaning on him - walking right towards the cops...

Man, how much can you do wrong?

It had a solid cast this one, and it carried itself pretty well for a large part of the time. Up until the bad guys take over prison I'm actually getting pretty hyped up, but then it all starts crumbling.

It's still good enough that I keep watching all the way, and sometimes intently. The intro almost had me thinking of those DMX movies of old. Cradle 2 The Grave-like.

It started good. It ends similarly - though more RTJ style then.

I see character combos I correlate to budget movies of a similar type now, like the overly hyperactive and slurry hostage negotiator played by Tom Sizemore (also seen in that Bullet Train spin-off recently) but they need to fine-tune some things to really reach their full potential with these.

This one really had potential. Some definite 4/5 moments.

Some 1/5 ones too though.

Overall...

 rated 3/5: not bad