NO ESCAPE is the intense, action-packed thriller where an American business man and his family suddenly find themselves in the middle of a violent political uprising, frantically looking for a safe escape.
Many of our greatest action movies are about ordinary characters doing extraordinary things, but off-beat casting choices can add a whole other meta-dimension to this idea. Usual funny man Owen Wilson is just a normal family guy who finds himself in hot water in new action film; No Escape. Here we take a look at other surprising action heroes.
NO ESCAPE is available to download on Digital HD on the 28th December 2015 and on Blu-ray™ and DVD from 11th January 2016, courtesy of Entertainment One.
Chris Pratt
From clumsy Andy Dwyer in Parks and Recreations to Jurassic World’s Owen Grady, Chris Pratt surprised everyone when he gained a six pack and went all action hero on us. In the 2015 instalment of the Jurassic franchise, zoologist Owen Grady finds himself on the run from a hybrid dinosaur – the Indominus Rex. He takes a commanding role, leading a troop of velociraptors to track down the beast, when this plan fails it’s up to Owen to take on the beast himself. In unsuspecting circumstances this unlikely hero saves the day (with the help of a few raptors).
Keanu Reeves
Whilst Bill and Ted’s Most Excellent Adventure was ‘totally awesome dude,’ I’m not sure anyone ever expected Keanu to become a straight actor. However, in 1999’s The Matrix, Keanu took on the more serious role of Neo, an ordinary guy, unsuspecting of the virtual world that exists around him. That is until he is confronted by a stranger named Morpheus, “You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” Neo ultimately destroys Agent Smith, a threat to humanity and the Matrix and frees all humans who reject the matrix.
Joseph Gordon Levitt
At the age of 15, the angel faced Joseph Gordon Levitt began playing alien, Tommy Sullivan, in hit 90’s sitcom 3rd Rock From The Sun. Fast forward almost 20 years and you can find JGL starring alongside Christian Bale in The Dark Knight Rises as John Blake. In this comic book film, Gordon-Levitt plays a normal, honest cop in the largely corrupt Gotham City. At the end of the scene audiences are let in on a shocking twist when it is implied that his character is in fact Batman’s eponymous side-kick Robin.
Daniel Day Lewis
Daniel Day Lewis’ infamous turn as a staid upper class toff in A Room with a View is vastly different from his role as Hawkeye in The Last of the Mohicans. In the former role, set in Edwardian England, he portrayed Cecil Vyse, the proper upper class fiancé of the protagonist. Yet in his Oscar© winning role Daniel Day Lewis plays a frontiersmen who is travelling west to find a new home with his adopted father Chingachgook, the last chief of the Mohican tribe. Hawkeye is a surprising hero to the Mohican’s in this early 90’s hit as it is his own people he is protecting them from.
Jimmy Fallon
Jimmy Fallon made a name for himself when he became a regular cast member on SNL from 1998 to 2004. Some of his infamous sketches include barfly brothers Kip and Wayne Bloder and the Jarret’s Room sketches. He made such a great impression that he is now the host of American chat show, The Late Show. But it was 2004’s Taxi in which he starred alongside Queen Latifah which really proved his hero status. One day on duty, demoted cop Fallon, hears of a bank robbery and hails a taxi driven by Belle (Queen Latifah), a new cabbie. Action and hilarity ensues, but Jimmy Fallon eventually saves the day.
Bryan Cranston
Bryan Cranston first came to most people’s attention as the loveable if slightly hapless dad from the early 2000 TV series Malcolm in the Middle. Hal (Cranston) is the inept head of the suburban family, who really plays second fiddle to his wife, however, it was as anti-hero Walter in Breaking Bad where Cranston finally found global recognition. Walter “Walt” Hartwell White was once a promising chemist who cofounded the company Gray Matter Technologies but is now down-on-his-luck; his salary barely makes ends meet, his wife is pregnant and their teenage son has cerebral palsy. When he learns he has terminal cancer, he becomes desperate and decides to turn an old RV into a make-shift meth lab.
Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis started his career in early 80’s TV show Moonlighting about a cocky detective at the Blue Moon detective agency owned by former model Cybill Shepherd, but Willis carved his action hero career in the 1985 mega hit Die Hard. As New York City policeman John McClane, Willis visits his estranged wife and two daughters on Christmas Eve. He joins her at a Christmas party, but the festivities are soon interrupted though by a group of terrorists who take over the building. Very soon McClane realises that he’s the only one with the requisite skills to save the day – and his daughters.
Owen Wilson
Owen Wilson is the ultimate funny man and proved his comical appendage in 2001’s satirical Zoolander. Wilson plays Hansel, the rival model to the protagonist Zoolander (Ben Stller). When the hero is brainwashed into assassinating the Malaysian President Owen Wilson helps Zoolander save the day with their model good looks and the infamous ‘blue steel.’
In No Escape Wilson really proves his hero credentials. He stars as American businessman Jack Dwyer who along with his wife Annie and their two young daughters arrive in Southeast Asia to begin a new life. Yet not long after arriving, they realise they’re right in the middle of a political uprising. Armed rebels attack the hotel where they’re staying, ordered to kill any foreigners that they encounter. Amid utter chaos, Wilson takes the action in his stride as his character must find a way to save himself and his loved ones from the violence erupting all around them.
NO ESCAPE is out on Digital DOWNLOAD on the 28TH DECEMBER 2015 and ON Blu-ray and DVD from 11TH JANUARY 2016, courtesy of Entertainment One
