
The short answer is that if you are looking for an academy award worthy script, deep character acting, and a deep commentary on society, go see something else. But, if (like me) you are looking for derivative over the top action, double entrande one liners, and whole lot of mindless cheesy fun, then I would say that you should see Lockout. It is not a memorable movie, but an enjoyable way to spend 95 minutes.
Although credited as an original idea from Luc Bessen, the plot of Lockout is Fortress meets Escape from New York meets Die Hard meets Demolition Man as Guy Pierce plays, Snow, a former CIA operative wrongly convicted of being a traitor against the U.S. and sentenced to MS-1, a high security space prison where prisoners are kept in stasis. However, after a prison breakout occurs on MS-1, Snow is offered his freedom if he can rescue the president's daughter (Maggie Grace), who has been captured by a group of violent inmates led by the calculating Alex (Vincent Regan) and the psychopath Hyden (Joseph Gilgun). There is also a clear his name/find the real traitor subplot involving the President, CIA and Secret Service that never really takes off but doesn’t add or detract from the enjoyment of the film.
All in all, I enjoyed Lockout--as did most of the preview screening audience. They were response when and where you would expect and some (myself included) laughed out loud at Snow’s witty banter. In short, the plot is cliché, the effects are cheesy, but the film is fun and that was all I wanted from it. It was a nice warm up to the summer movie season.
Your mileage may vary.