Escape Plan 2: Hades doesn't offer much to its audience that we haven't seen before. Imagine the first film mixed with Gladiator and the prison dynamics of 1990's Fortress with Christopher Lambert. Aside from one minor surprise towards the end of the movie, it's really just a paint-by-numbers action yarn that left me sighing in disappointment after seeing it.
Although it went straight to home entertainment, Escape Plan 2: Hades actually has some decent camerawork. Sure, at times it looks like it was shot in a giant warehouse or storage facility. That doesn't stop cinematographer Brandon Cox (THe Collector, Heist) from framing the scenes well and giving the film a better look than most movies that don't make it into the theater. Some of the fight scenes or closeups might be a bit odd or too in-your-face, but overall it works.
Escape Plan 2: Hades is a gloomy affair that takes place in the dark corridors and battle arenas of the techno-prison our heroes are locked in. The technology and lighting paired with a couple different robots give the whole film a futuristic vibe. Any humor we do get is rather dry and dark.
The musical score for Escape Plan 2: Hades didn't really stand out to me as good or bad. The best way for me to describe it is incidental or in the background. The sound effects were what you would expect for a high-action slugfest with a lot of shootouts.
I didn't notice anything off when it came to the CGI or special effects used in Escape Plan 2: Hades. The movements of the robots in the film all looked legitimate. The only other effects I can think of are the lightning or energy surges that shock the prisoners when they get out of line and they were believable.
Everyone takes their job VERY seriously in Escape Plan 2: Hades. Dave Bautista does his very best with the little he is given. The rest of the actors chew up their scenery with a satisfying amount of sincerity for an action film of this straight-to-DVD caliber. Stallone provides the somber wizened and aged tough-guy persona we loves him for now.
The Blu-ray for Escape Plan 2: Hades contains Making Escape Plan 2: Hades featurette, Creating the Look of Escape Plan 2: Hades featurette, Building the Robot of Escape Plan 2: Hades featurette, and extended cast and crew interviews.
Escape Plan 2: Hades is directed by Steven C. Miller (Silent Night, Arsenal) from a screenplay by Miles Chapman (Escape Plan). It stars Sylvester Stallone, Dave Bautista, 50 Cent, Jesse Metcalf (Dallas), Jaime King (My Bloody Valentine), Xiaoming Huang (Ip Man 2), and Wes Chatham (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay). The movie is rated R for violence and language and runs 96 minutes.
