Lockout

There are some movies that start strong and grow progressively worse towards the end. Lockout is one such movie. The premise of an orbital prison a'la futuristic Alcatraz is intriguing, and then as usual things go wrong, which necessitates the insertion of a special forces trooper to get the situation rectified. The movie starts strong, with a believable orbital prison, and strong characters that are distinctive and likeable. Well maybe not likeable by everyone but certainly very distinct. For moments there I thought I detected hints of Blade Runner, Mission Impossible and Half Life 2, which is generally indicative of fun times ahead. And the fun times kept going till it seems that the low budget production started running out of steam, rapidly careening into a rushed ending that is uncharacteristically disjointed. Unfortunately, really, and we were having such fine moments together. Overall there's not a lot to say. This show's an action flick about a hostage rescue by a single dude from a whole hostile prison population, with all that entails. Unfortunately, the rushed hind quarters and other miscellaneous foulups force me to give it a 5.5/10. It could've been so much better had they fleshed out the narrative in the right places, but it is what it is.