So we engaged you. I declare you a prisoner and a prisoner! How many films have been made about people hiding from the law and armed criminals while trying to prove their innocence? How much more will be filmed? Why is that? And all because the mass audience likes the heroes that are forced to confront the whole world. Perhaps it is all the fault that the life of a simple layman is devoid of strong emotional upheavals and people want, albeit unconsciously, to be in the place of the characters of the picture, and maybe for some reason, but as you know, if there is a demand, then there will be a supply. And today, I'm going to talk about another film about criminals trying to escape the law. So, these are the "fugitives."
Mark Dodge is a professional hacker who robbed an influential mobster of twenty-five million dollars, and at the same time copied the database of a criminal syndicate to his disk. Well, hackers are. And naturally, the mafia wants to get rid of the hapless witness. Why didn't they do that before Dodge went to the police? Most likely because they are incompetent fools and the fact that they manage to steal millions while posing as worthy members of society does not mean anything. In any case, this does not tell the writer of the picture, but I will talk about him later. So Mark Dodge arrived at correctional work for nine months to meet another prisoner - Charlie Piper. How do they meet? They beat each other to death. As a result of this fight, one of the prisoners manages to shoot all the guards. Apparently, not only the criminals but also the authorities are incompetent in this film. At least it's fair. But back to our rams -- er, botched killers -- er, innocently convicted. So Dodge and Piper in all this turmoil decide to escape and get the money stolen by Dodge to go to the sunset. Unless, of course, criminals, policemen and... corrupt policemen get to them sooner. Yeah, well, where are they?
People who read my reviews (I hope there are any?) know that I try to attach a little logic and common sense to even the strangest and stupidest film, unless the movie in question is outright thrash. Unfortunately, as soon as logic saw the movie, she immediately locked herself in the bathroom and from there there is still hysterical laughter. As for common sense, this respectable gentleman is now running down the street in his underwear and shouting anti-government slogans. At least he was screaming until the policeman arrived. Well, since I was left alone with the “fugitives” then I will have to take off.
So, Dodge. A man who was able to steal a Mafia-owned phone campaign with his remarkable hacking abilities. I do not know how a person can add prime numbers to minus infinity and manage to pull off such a cunning adventure. And if the place and time of the action takes place in our age of high technology, but ninety-six years? Something tells me that the writer of the film has no idea how to write even the simplest program, and the director just gave up on what is happening. But who can explain to me why during the nine months that our hero spent in prison, the criminal tycoons did not scratch, where their money and most importantly important data went? Why didn't they find out all of Dodge's background and find all of his friends? And most importantly, since the criminals in this picture are impassably stupid, why didn't they order Dodge to be slaughtered in the prison shower?
Perhaps it is all the fault that the script of the picture is full of white spots and in order to somehow hide it, a strategic decision was made to throw more “pioneers in the bushes” into the plot, which should somehow explain all the background. The cop who's investigating this case comes out of the woods and bumps into a prisoner? Samuel Gerard at the sight of this begins to chew his tie and lament fate. A bailiff that hunts fugitives and wants to kill them? Um, why? Oh, idea! Let's make him work for the big bad guy. So what, that nothing contributed to this and that the bailiff not so long ago tried to obtain a conviction for a criminal tycoon? The audience will swallow! And the movie is full of those kinds of moments.
What about heroes? After all, the viewer must empathize with the heroes, well, at least a little. And by again. Because the heroes, although they save children from under the wheels of the car, and the elderly people, whom they themselves brought to a heart attack, are taken to the hospital, but all this is dictated only by the script, and not by the characters of the main characters. For the simple reason that the viewer is repeatedly shown that the heroes of the story are selfish and nothing besides their own well-being cares about them. They do not care about the life of a simple layman, because they arrange a shootout in a busy bar and spit at whom the bullet will ricochet. I don't care that as a result of the chase, several police officers will receive injuries incompatible with life. What do heroes care? And as a result, the only feeling that the characters of the picture cause is that they should be shot as soon as possible.
In fact, this film is an attempt to shoot a good action movie, which the mass audience would remember years later, but the fact is that the “Runaways” did not receive any mass fame, but even movie fans with experience speak about this film is not particularly flattering. In principle, it is understandable, because the story itself is cracking at the seams, and the heroes themselves do not cause warm feelings. Neither action saves the situation, which is put down to primitive, nor the fact that the characters constantly remember other, good films. “Runaways” is a dummy film that can only be seen if you have nothing to do at all, and all good films on the same topic have been revised twenty times.
3 out of 10