Escape Room | Teen Ink

Escape Room

May 14, 2019
By MovieReviewer_18 ELITE, Short Hills, New Jersey
MovieReviewer_18 ELITE, Short Hills, New Jersey
678 articles 0 photos 8 comments

 Escape Room is a mysterious thriller that proves to be quite the dramatic adventure. The movie revolves around a group of strangers that enter an escape room, thinking it is just a game. All of them received a mysterious cube that had turned out to be a puzzle. This puzzle exerted a slip of paper that gave instructions on the address of the escape room when solved. Even though most of them don't think it is the best idea, all of them are hooked onto the idea of going, because they learn that the winner receives ten thousand dollars, except for one contestant that is going since his client sent him the cube as a gift. Despite how they are all there for different reasons, the group of six must soon learn to trust one another as they begin to realize that things aren't as they seem. When they first arrive to the building that hosts the escape room, everyone gives away their phones, which the people working there say is necessary to ensure that they don't take photos of any of the escape room puzzles. Over time, everyone begins to get placed into a waiting room, causing everyone to think that they are still waiting for someone to take them to the escape room. However, after one of them attempts to leave and the door's handle gets yanked off, they all begin to realize that they are already in the escape room. This causes the group to wander in the room, searching for clues of some sort. After one of them thinks they found a clue due to the title of a book inside of the room, they end up turning a lock to four hundred fifty-one, instantly causing these weird tube-like objects in the ceiling to turn orange and begin heating up the room, almost like they're in an oven. Because the room actually begins to get warmer, they all quickly hurry up, striving to figure out what to do next. As they continue to try to solve the escape room, not only do they begin to understand that this escape room's dangers are really, but they also discover that if they aren't careful, their own lives will be in danger as well. 
 Escape Room manages to become an intriguing concept that has a few highlights, especially in the beginning, but as the movie gets closer to the end, everything becomes that much more unbelievable, instantly creating a mixed bag. The beginning of the movie brilliantly jumpstarts the adventure and proves to be one of the most inspired parts of the entire film. This portion carefully lays down the groundwork for the rest of the movie and introduces audiences to both all of the characters on-screen and the escape room that they are going to be participating in. The middle of the movie does a satisfactory job of progressing the plot along and developing the characters further. However, the ending of the movie falls up short and doesn't manage to be enticing, exhilarating, or take advantage of all of the drama, suspense, and intensity that the rest of the movie conjures up fairly effectively. The actual conclusion of the movie is lackluster at best, and it is fair to argue that this bad end makes the rest of the movie worse as a whole. Endings are especially important to mysteries, because they are supposed to include a clever way of how everything was able to occur and why. Therefore, an excellent ending should have been expected, but this is just not the case, no matter how one wants to spin the situation. The end feels forced and just unnatural, causing the movie to become dumber and less sophisticated. 
 Despite how the execution of Escape Room may not be the best, it still has the benefit of being a cool concept. Because escape rooms are becoming more popular in this day and age, it is in an interesting idea to have people placed into an escape room with real consequences. Due to this concept, the movie is at its best when it is showcasing its characters that are just as frightened at what is happening as viewers. When the movie puts the characters' lives in danger, it helps to pose the question of whether or not this could happen in real life. This is an amazing feature to have, but due to the weak end, this feature sadly gets swayed away. 
 Escape Room has some truly noteworthy visuals that manage to bring the entire movie to life and carry out all of the peculiar puzzles that the creators could have possibly intended to include. The awesomely vivid visual effects of the movie make the movie both realistic at times and quite dramatic, which are two elements that are essential to all thrillers. The superb special effects allow the movie to showcase how dangerous of a game the escape room truly is and causes watchers to be transported into the escape room alongside the characters, experiencing what is about to happen next. 
 Escape Room certainly doesn't manage to revolutionize the industry or create one of the most entertaining thrillers of all time, but it does manage to gift viewers with an enjoyable experience that includes a concept that will be sure to intrigue many. The movie isn't necessarily a must-see, but it is definitely worth watching, especially for those who have ever gone to an escape room or plan on it, simply because the movie changes audiences' perceptions of what it means to be in one. 


The author's comments:

"You want to control your life, but life isn’t a science experiment. You can’t contain your world forever." - College Professor


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