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The Gratuitous B-Movie Column: Escape Plan: The Extractors
The Gratuitous B-Movie Column Issue #532: Escape Plan: The Extractors
Hello, everyone, and welcome once again to the internets movie review column that has never been to Mansfield, Ohio, The Gratuitous B-Movie Column, and I am your host Bryan Kristopowitz. In this issue, issue number five hundred and thirty-two, I take a look at the second sequel in the Escape Plan franchise, Escape Plan: The Extractors, which hit home video in early July 2019.
Escape Plan: The Extractors
Escape Plan: The Extractors, also known as Escape Plan 3: The Extractors and Escape Plan 3: Devil’s Station and directed by John Herzfeld, is the second sequel in the Escape Plan franchise but actually feels more like a direct sequel to the first Escape Plan movie. It really isn’t a sequel to Escape Plan 2: Hades (which I reviewed last issue), despite the fact that it’s the third movie in the franchise. In fact, no mention is made of Hades at all, which is odd since that movie ended on a kind of cliffhanger. It almost seems like Hades should be part 3, and The Extractors should be part 2. There’s a plot point towards the end of The Extractors that makes that impossible, but, still, when you look at the overall plot and story, The Extractors should be part 2, and Hades should be part 3 (and we should be eagerly awaiting a part 4 since, as I said, Hades ends on a sort of cliffhanger. I don’t think we’re ever going to see that cliffhanger resolved, though, as it would seem that star Sylvester Stallone is done with the franchise and playing Ray Breslin).
Okay, so, The Extractors has Stallone’s Ray Breslin still running his big hooha security consulting business, this time out of Ohio. One day, Breslin is hired by Wu Zhang (Russell Wong), a Hong Kong businessman, to rescue his daughter Daya (Malese Jow), who was apparently kidnapped by a team of heavily armed thugs. Daya had been touring sites in Mansfield, Ohio for potential future investment by the Zhang Innovations company, and just before leaving the kidnappers took out Zaya’s head of security (Bao, as played by Harry Shum Jr.) and several of her associates. Who the hell would dare kidnap Daya? Lester Clark Jr. (Devon Sawa), the son of the character Vincent D’Onofrio played in the first Escape Plan. Still supremely pissed about what Breslin did to his father (we see via flashbacks to the first movie what happened to the sleazy backstabber), Clark hopes to use Daya’s abduction as a way to bring Breslin directly to him so he can kill him and to get revenge on the Zhang outfit (Zhang was involved in creating the Tomb prison in the first movie or some such). When Breslin finds out that Clark is the one responsible for the kidnapping (and Breslin finds out what’s going on via a thumb drive left with Bao) and where Daya is being held (somewhere in Latvia), Breslin calls in his old friend Trent DeRosa (Dave “Batista” Bautista) to help out. DeRosa is already in Eastern Europe, so he doesn’t have as far to go as Breslin and his team, so DeRosa can set things up ahead of time. He can also find out where, exactly, in Latvia Daya is being held.
So then some stuff happens, DeRosa finds out that Clark is holding Daya inside an old, notorious prison called the Devil’s Station and that it’s going to be difficult to infiltrate. Breslin, along with girlfriend Abigail (Jaime King), Jules (Lydia Hull), Bao, badass former Zhang bodyguard Shen (Jin Zhang) in Latvia, and computer expert Hush (Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson) back in Ohio, try to come up with a plan. While Breslin and his team come up with that plan, Clark sends his goons to kidnap Abigail. Clark really is going to try to damage all of his enemies.
So Breslin comes up with a plan, and his team attempts to infiltrate the Devil’s Station prison. At first, the plan goes to shit because Clark knows Breslin is coming and has the prison grounds booby-trapped. Then Bao gets blown away. Clark has Breslin completely outgunned and outnumbered. And that’s when DeRosa shows up with his mega shotgun and starts laying waste to every Clark henchman that gets in his way. Suddenly, the tide has turned in Breslin’s favor. And that’s when Clark slits Abigail’s throat.
When Breslin finds out that Clark killed Abigail he decides, right that second, to go all out. He’s going to do everything he can to be a professional and rescue Daya and take out Clark and his team, but if all he gets to do is destroy Clark with his bare hands he’ll be okay with that. It’s all just a matter of finding Clark and meeting him face to face.
And that, essentially, is The Extractors. At barely 77 minutes, it moves quickly and doesn’t waste any time getting to where it wants to go. Director Herzfeld knows exactly what he needs to get in order for the story to work, and he can do big action on a, at best, modest budget. The Extractors doesn’t have the same insane energy as Hades, but The Extractors is happy being a down and dirty, low budget action flick. It doesn’t want to be anything else.
Now, there are moments where The Extractors could use a little more time to breathe and could probably use a little more action. While I appreciate the “just keep it moving” strategy deployed by Herzfeld, I want to know a little more about the Devil’s Station prison. Clark and his team seem to be “running” it, and Daya and her associates are not the only prisoners being held there. If Clark is essentially running a prison and he has hundreds of prisoners there, how does he feed them? How does he keep an eye on them? It doesn’t appear as though there’s much of a guard staff. The prison is a goddamn shithole. So how, exactly, does Clark run this place? We never find out.
I’d also like to know more about Trent DeRosa. We know he’s an old friend of Breslin, that he often operates as Breslin’s muscle when he needs it, but what does he do when he isn’t working for/with Breslin? This is where the movie’s potential “more action” could come in. DeRosa seems to have access to all kinds of cool, deadly weapons. Why not have a scene where DeRosa, operating as a one-man army, takes out like thirty bad guys all at one all by himself? The movie’s budget would have likely prevented such a large action sequence, sure, but it would have been awesome to see something along those lines anyway.
I’m also curious as to how many offices/HQ’s Breslin has around the United States. Did he actually move his entire operation from Georgia to Ohio in between Hades and The Extractors? Did Breslin’s company get a series of tax breaks from the state to relocate? Or is the Ohio office just one of many? I don’t really know what to think. Breslin’s office just seems to be a swanky desk in the middle of a dank, decrepit room that looks like it’s full of mold. What kind of business does that?
The movie also could have used one more scene between Breslin and Abigail together, just to make Abigail’s eventual death that much more significant. Abigail was Breslin’s woman and that sonofabitch Clark killed her. We should be way more pissed about that. Way more.
Still, even with those “issues,” The Extractors is a damn good, low budget action flick. I mean, look at how the plot for The Extractors is the opposite of Escape Plan. In Escape Plan, Breslin had to break out of a prison. In The Extractors, he has to break into a prison. That’s classic sequel plotting, do the exact opposite of the first movie.
Stallone is a little more engaged this time around as Ray Breslin, mostly because he really is the star of the movie as opposed to Hades, where he was a “featured player” at best. Stallone also looks great in his action and fight scenes, including his final brutal as hell brawl with Clark.
Bautista starts off as the ultimate ass kicking/killing machine as DeRosa, but then he fights one of Clark’s henchman and, for a minute or two, gets his ass kicked. You just don’t expect to see that, especially with the way DeRosa always seems to be in control no matter what. DeRosa eventually gets the upper hand and takes care of business, but I didn’t think I’d see DeRosa so damn vulnerable.
Jin Zhang does a good job as Shen, Daya’s old bodyguard. His umbrella fight sequence is awesome and is easily his best scene in the movie. Shen also has a quiet badass vibe to him that translates well through the TV screen. There are times where it seems as though Shen isn’t doing anything, but the reality is he’s really doing everything. Harry Shum, Jr. could have used a few more scenes as Bao the bodyguard, kicking ass and whatnot. Shum, Jr. has more natural charisma than Zhang, and it’s a damn shame that Bao didn’t get to hang around a little while longer.
Devon Sawa is a totally sleazebag as Lester Clark, Jr. You don’t like him at all, you never once sympathize with him, and you can’t wait to see him get his ass kicked or shot or blown up. It does look like Sawa is having a ball playing Clark, which is always fun to see. It’s also fun to see the great Daniel Bernhardt as Clark’s main henchman Silva. Be sure to check out his excellent fight scene with Jin Zhang’s Shen. It’s one of the movie’s highlights.
And then there’s Curtis Jackson as Hush. He’s given third billing in the movie and has like two scenes and really doesn’t figure into the movie at all. You’d think that since his character is the one that set up Clark’s father Clark would want to kill him, too. Yes, Clark wouldn’t know that Hush actually did the main dirty work, but he is a part of Breslin’s main team. Why wouldn’t Clark want him dead? Why not send Silva to kill him?
So which direct-to-video sequel is better, Hades or The Extractors? In an overall sense, they’re about the same. They’re both fairly well made and entertaining, but they’re entertaining for slightly different reasons. Hades is insane. The Extractors is gritty and down and dirty. Watch them both. Experience the entire Escape Plan franchise.
See Escape Plan: The Extractors. See it, see it, see it.
So what do we have here?
Dead bodies: 26
Explosions: Multiple.
Nudity?: None.
Doobage: A rundown Ohio town, an abandoned building tour, arm breaking, kidnapping, random killing, a flash drive, an excellent martial arts attack featuring an umbrella, face slapping, a flashback to the first movie, a briefcase full of money, body smashing, more random killing, attempted phone trace, an old prison filled with the worst of the worst, electric chair hooey, attacking a guy with a Taser and then shooting him, drone hooey, ball busting, rocket attack, multiple explosions, serious throat slitting, mega gut stabbing, a flickering flashlight, metal bar rammed through the side of the neck, starting a fire using a Taser, mega shotgun city, an unexpected ass kicking, an awesome neck breaking power bomb, a kick ass martial arts brawl, major limb breaking, a shootout, bullet to the face, a brutal beat down, more major throat slitting, and the good guys walking away in shadow.
Kim Richards?: None.
Gratuitous: Mansfield, Ohio, homeless people being fed by some charity outfit, Devon Sawa, kidnapping, a briefcase and an umbrella, Sylvester Stallone, weird but terrible local cops, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Vincent D’Onofrio in flashbacks to the first movie, Dave “Batista” Bautista, prisoner killing, Devon Sawa, Sylvester Stallone putting luggage into the back of a truck, an electric chair that was built in 1896, racism, a drone, drone feed hooey, Sylvester Stallone walking around in the sewer, The Legend of Nimh, a handgun with a flashlight attachment, Dave “Batista” Bautista using a mega shotgun, Daniel Bernhardt, winking, and ten minutes of end credits.
Best lines: “Tell me about Ohio, gentlemen,” “China’s coming to Mansfield,” “Mr. Chow, please,” “I want that. I want it, too,” “Hey! Come on! Focus!,” “You failed her,” “Fuck! Dammit!,” “Lock’em up! I love that sound,” “What the fuck you looking at, chopsticks?,” “Does he have the clearance? Tell me or I’ll shoot him in the fucking head,” “Jesus Christ, he’s running a black site,” “I’ve never seen anyone go into a fight wearing a sport coat before,” “Do me a favor, Frankie, just keep doing what I say, okay?,” “A lot of fathers here,” “Fuck, he knows we’re coming! He knows we’re coming!,” “It’s a Chinese legend,” “I don’t work for Breslin,” “You’ve both wasted your time and your lives,” “Why do you look at me like that?,” “Answer the phone!,” “You call that a fucking hit?,” “Hey, there’s something you gotta do. You’ve gotta forgive yourself,” and “I’m done with prisons.”
Rating: 8.5/10.0
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Things to Watch Out For
–Animal Among Us: This is some sort of low budget horror flick about a big hooha monster out in the woods that no one believes is there but, of course, the reality is the monster is out there and ready to kill anyone and anything that gets in its way. And on top of that, MMA and pro wrestling badass Don Frye is in it, too, presumably as a hunter or some such. I will be reviewing this, hopefully soon, and will let you know if it’s as awesome and scary as it looks. I mean, check out the trailer, man. It’s pretty damn cool. And that fucking claw!
–The Fare: This appears to be some sort of low budget mystery thriller thing where a taxi driver picks up a woman, falls in love with her, and then tries to figure out what the hell happened when she suddenly disappears from the back seat. I will be reviewing this fairly soon, and hopefully the movie will make sense because, based solely on the premise, it could very well end up being one of those movies that starts out well and cool and then just falls apart and gets weird. I can’t wait to find out, though. The trailer has me intrigued. The look of the movie is certainly interesting.
–The Brave: Directed by the great William Kaufman and starring Louis Mandylor and Armand Assante, this is some sort of low budget action movie about badass elite cops that have to take down a big deal criminal in Albania. Mandylor, I’m guessing, is playing an American in this, and it looks like Assante is the bad guy, and he knows how to bring on the sleaze when he’s doing the bad guy thing. The action, at least in the trailer, looks decent enough, too. Definitely worth a rental. Hopefully I’ll review this at some point in 2020.
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Next Issue: Attrition starring Steven Seagal!
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Well, I think that’ll be about it for now. Don’t forget to sign up with disqus if you want to comment on this article and any other 411 article. You know you want to, so just go do it.
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Escape Plan: The Extractors
Sylvester Stallone– Ray Breslin
Dave “Batista” Bautista– Trent DeRosa
Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson– Hush
Jin Zhang– Shen
Harry Shum Jr.– Bao
Devon Sawa– Lester Clark Jr.
Jaime King– Abigail
Lydia Hull– Jules
Malese Jow– Daya Zhang
Daniel Bernhardt– Silva
Russell Wong– Wu Zhang
(check out the rest of the cast here)
Directed by John Herzfeld
Screenplay by Miles Chapman and John Herzfeld
Distributed by Lionsgate, Lionsgate Premiere, and Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Rated R for violence and language
Runtime– 87 minutes
Buy it here