The stage curtains open ...
"So, that makes this what .... tournament of champions?"
"Escape Room: Tournament of Champions" (2021) brings back Taylor Russell and Logan Miller from the first film, and adds to the cast with some new blood. The version of the film I watched was the newer, extended version which is decidedly VERY different from the theatrical release. Deborah Ann Woll was completely removed, and Isabelle Fuhrman and James Frain star in the film with a completely reworked beginning and ending. 'Tournament of Champions" introduces new escape rooms and tries to up the ante.
We pick back up with the survivors from the first film, Zoey and Ben, as they are determined to find the culprits behind these sadistic escape rooms and expose them for what they are. Their trails leads them to Manhattan where they are lured into another very deadly, and creative situation they must escape from ... but this time, they finds themselves in the company of other surviving winners of previous escape rooms - and as one of them astutely surmises, it is a sick tournament of champions. However, the closer to the truth behind the scenes they get, they find that not all is at it seems.
As I mentioned at the outset, I watched the extended version which completely alters the theatrical version into basically a whole new movie. I have always been a fan of Isabelle Fuhrman from the first 'Orphan' movie, and considering her source material, I felt she did a decent job in this one as well. I enjoyed the underlying story and the secrets they uncovered for us during the course of the movie. They did set things up very nicely for a 3rd movie in the series (IF they make it a series). The big question is ... from which ending will they continue the story from? The theatrical version or the extended version?
I didn't feel this one was as good as the first film, but I still had fun with it. The escape rooms that they had to solve the puzzles to were well made and executed, as they were in the first film. They did try to up the ante a bit, making the scenes pop more with larger stakes and more action. I felt the tension was lessoned though, since we have already been exposed to the events of the first movie, and more is revealed with the proverbial 'man behind the curtain'. I would recommend this at 7 stars out of 10. A decent double-feature if you watch them back to back.
"So, that makes this what .... tournament of champions?"
"Escape Room: Tournament of Champions" (2021) brings back Taylor Russell and Logan Miller from the first film, and adds to the cast with some new blood. The version of the film I watched was the newer, extended version which is decidedly VERY different from the theatrical release. Deborah Ann Woll was completely removed, and Isabelle Fuhrman and James Frain star in the film with a completely reworked beginning and ending. 'Tournament of Champions" introduces new escape rooms and tries to up the ante.
We pick back up with the survivors from the first film, Zoey and Ben, as they are determined to find the culprits behind these sadistic escape rooms and expose them for what they are. Their trails leads them to Manhattan where they are lured into another very deadly, and creative situation they must escape from ... but this time, they finds themselves in the company of other surviving winners of previous escape rooms - and as one of them astutely surmises, it is a sick tournament of champions. However, the closer to the truth behind the scenes they get, they find that not all is at it seems.
As I mentioned at the outset, I watched the extended version which completely alters the theatrical version into basically a whole new movie. I have always been a fan of Isabelle Fuhrman from the first 'Orphan' movie, and considering her source material, I felt she did a decent job in this one as well. I enjoyed the underlying story and the secrets they uncovered for us during the course of the movie. They did set things up very nicely for a 3rd movie in the series (IF they make it a series). The big question is ... from which ending will they continue the story from? The theatrical version or the extended version?
I didn't feel this one was as good as the first film, but I still had fun with it. The escape rooms that they had to solve the puzzles to were well made and executed, as they were in the first film. They did try to up the ante a bit, making the scenes pop more with larger stakes and more action. I felt the tension was lessoned though, since we have already been exposed to the events of the first movie, and more is revealed with the proverbial 'man behind the curtain'. I would recommend this at 7 stars out of 10. A decent double-feature if you watch them back to back.