Escape Room: Tournament of Champions

Synopsis

This film picks up where the first Escape Room film leaves off, and definitely assumes that the viewer has seen the first film. The two survivors from the first film go to New York to chase down the Minos company that killed their fellow players and almost killed them in the first film. However, on the subway to get there, they find out that they are in the game again, along with a new set of survivors, this time the survivors of previous Minos games. Zoey and Ben are challenged again to survive and escape this deadly game, while still having the goal of taking down the company. 

As they play the game this time, Zoey begins to think that the game is telling a story, but this time not her story, but the creator’s story. As she finds out who the unwilling creator is and how the game has begun, everything starts to come together, just to find out that it has all been a plot to put Zoey exactly where she did not want to be in a game created only for her.

The Good

The game gets bigger, more grandiose and the puzzles possibly even more creative and deadly than the first time. The sets are definitely made with a higher budget than the first game, but according to IMDB, how much money the first one made was exactly what prompted the second one to begin with. It is obvious from the start that this is no average escape room  gone wrong, which did make it stand out from the first one. The intensity is there from the very beginning, as it is obvious that the participants are in danger. The actors playing the new characters did an incredible job as well. 

There is definitely a twist, and not a twist one would expect from the beginning of the film. In fact, it is not one that many viewers will anticipate until it is revealed to them. I definitely can give the writers credit for taking us even deeper down the proverbial rabbit hole of just how manipulative and evil Minos can really be.

The Bad

While the new actors did a wonderful job, the new characters were not written with much depth. That made it a bit less impactful when they died. For example, I only cared about the death of Brianna because I identified her with her character Angel, my favorite on the tv show Pose. Also, when it is revealed who is making the new game, (I won’t say because, spoilers), it does not explain enough of the story she is trying to tell. 

In addition, while the new puzzles were obviously meant to be more grandiose, some of them just plain did not make sense. Needing to put acid on a lock to dissolve it, and having to find a container that could hold the acid, was disappointing if the viewer thinks for a second and realizes that the lock has been exposed to the acid the whole time. It should have melted already. 

The ending seems to loop back to the ending of the first film, but it seems to take a lot on the assumption of the result of the second game. It was like the creators already knew who was going to survive, and who was not. Almost takes a bit of the excitement away. The big reveal also seems to do the same, in a way. No more on that, I’ll let the viewers make their own decision there. 

Overall

Bigger rooms, more outlandish puzzles and a big twist lead to an exciting movie. However, don’t look too deep beneath the surface. You might not like how your analysis makes you feel.