ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 30, 1994                   TAG: 9404300038
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: B-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

`NO ESCAPE' IS NO CLASSIC

"No Escape" charges out of the gate at a furious pace and manages to maintain it for about 20 minutes. But once this futuristic action movie settles down to its story, it moves much slower and never regains its initial intensity.

In the year 2022, Marine Captain Robbins (Ray Liotta) is sent to a maximum security prison for killing his commanding officer. (Exactly why he did that is explained at length later in the film, along with several other partially relevant details.) It doesn't take long for the evil warden (Michael Lerner) to ship him off to an even nastier place, a jungle island filled with rats and vicious criminals.

There, the baddest of the bad guys is Marek (Stuart Wilson), a cheerful killer with a quadra-pierced nose. After a brief stopover with Marek's barbarians, Robbins finds his way to Sanctuary. It's a peaceful armed outpost run by The Father (Lance Hendriksen), an enlightened convict who's given to philosophical ramblings, and his security chief Hawkins (Ernie Hudson). Casey (Kevin Dillon) is a younger inmate who admires Robbins.

The warden keeps track of activity on the island via spy satellite as the two factions fight it out and try to escape.

The rest of the story, based on Richard Herley's novel, "The Penal Colony," follows the rules of the genre, providing fans with what they want to see. In this kind of film, though, casting is as important as writing, and these veterans do the solid work that has made them some of the most popular character actors in the business.

New Zealand director Martin Campbell's career has been based on a couple of fair thrillers, "Criminal Law" and "Defenseless." If this script had been trimmed of a couple of subplots and about half its soul-searching, "No Escape" might have been another of the great Australian action films. It has the same sense of place and style. But Campbell isn't able to match the strong, suspenseful conclusion that makes "The Road Warrior" so much fun to watch a second time.

"No Escape" certainly has its moments, but it doesn't live up to its own first act.

No Escape: ** 1/2

A Savoy release playing at the Valley View Mall 6 and Salem Valley 8. 117 min. Rated R for violence, strong language. 


 by CNB