Escape Attempt, directed by Alex Topaller and Daniel Shapiro, follows Saul (Andrzej Chyra), a WWII soldier who flees a Nazi concentration camp only to end up in a future utopian world committing the same atrocities he was trying to escape. With breathtaking visuals this sci-fi epic explores the timeless theme that history repeats itself and man’s desire for utopia leads to destruction.
Saul meets pilot Anna (Anna Burnett) and her husband Vadim (Ieuan Coombs), who are headed to a paradise planet “Pandora” for their honeymoon. He hitches a ride with them, asking to be dropped off at the nearest uninhabited planet. When they drop him off on this tundra planet, they discover frozen bodies. Upon further investigation, they realize that this uninhabited planet is being run by an army committing genocide against cyborgs.
Godzilla Minus One was a wake-up call to Hollywood that you don’t need a 300-million-dollar budget to achieve awe-inspiring visual effects. Escape Attempt reinforces that truth and excitingly opens the door to filmmakers to make epic films outside of the Hollywood system.
“…a World War II soldier…flees a Nazi concentration camp only to end up in a future utopian world…”
What Escape Attempt does incredibly well with regard to its visual effects is create scale and perspective. When you watch Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, the ships look real because of his decision to plant a camera and fill the screen with people and landmarks that give the ships proper scale, which grounds the CGI in reality. Steven Spielberg achieved this same effect in Jurassic Park. There is a restraint and minimalism to the integration of CGI.
This film is visually up there with Interstellar and Blade Runner 2049. It is a stunning triumph in artistic vision. Where the film struggles, however, is in its dialogue and setting the rules of the world in which these characters live. We aren’t given an explanation for how Saul is able to leave the 1930s and jettison to a far-distant future.
We learn little about this future world because Anna and Vadim exist in a time where humans are spread across many different worlds so their lack of knowledge of a genocide taking place is understandable and echoes the ignorance of the Jewish genocide in the 1930s, however, the story becomes a bit jarring to follow.
The dialogue between the characters is a bit clunky and often sounds like a rough English translation of a script written in another language. As beautiful as this film is to feast on, it lacks the ability to really draw the viewer into the lives of these characters and feel for what they are going through.
It’s an exciting time for independent filmmaking and films like Escape Attempt provide hope for an avenue of stories outside of the superhero monopoly.
"…a stunning triumph in artistic vision..."
