Escape Room movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Escape Room

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 1 hour 40 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: B-

IN A NUTSHELL: Have you been to one of those Escape Room companies in your city? They’ve been super popular for a number of years and my family gets a real kick out of them. We have even tried to create our own at home (epic fail). With the success of those fun experiences, this horror movie takes on a new twist. It’s creative, especially some of the actual room designs and puzzles, but it all feels very familiar as one person at a time dies a horrible death.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Some profanity
Some violent deaths
Lots of screaming and peril
Guy without a shirt on.

THEMES:

Persistence
“Surviving is a choice.” – Jason (Jay Ellis)
The importance of critical thinking skills

THINGS I LIKED:

The premise has really great potential. It was fun to try to figure out the clues and imagine myself in those situations.
The movie could have dragged on, so the time clock deadlines were helpful in order to finish each room’s section in a timely manner. The ticking clock definitely added tension to the scenes.
The young cast includes Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Deborah Ann Woll, Jay Ellis, Tyler Labine, and Nik Dodani.
The upside-down room was visually fun to watch. It reminded me of the upside-down room in the new Mary Poppins movie, although without the same outcome. ha ha

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Not enough backstory to make you really care about the characters early on.
The trailers kind of spoil the fun and reveal too much.
The storyline was somewhat believable until the end when it became ridiculous and predictable.
Like all horror movies, people make really dumb choices. It’s sooo frustrating to watch that!
Some people have been comparing this movie to Saw but that movie is way more gory and disgusting.
The characters are super annoying. They bicker and fight the entire time. Many of them are mean and disrespectful. I hate watching that. If they were kind and tried to work together, things might have gone more smoothly, eh? One of the characters even says, “I feel like I’m playing the world’s funnest game with the world’s meanest people.” They just seemed angry from the very beginning.
You’re left with no answers in the end, really. They tease with a sequel.
FUNNY LINES:
“What do we do now?” – Ben (Logan Miller
“I don’t know. Try not to die?” – Jason
“I hate this room so much.” – Mike (Tyler Labine)
INTERESTING LINES: