Common Sense Media Review
By Brian Costello
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Violence, language in inept crime thriller.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
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Lockdown
What's the Story?
In LOCKDOWN, a police officer guarding the jail cells of a Los Angeles precinct bends over to pick up a dollar bill. While he does this, he's killed by one of the prisoners. Once freed, ringleader McMasters is followed by one "Snake" and one "Midnight Strangler" as they take the precinct hostage. Soon, MacMasters, known to be a murderous paranoid schizophrenic, is on the phone with FBI Special Agent Roger Kincaid (Michael Paré). While Kincaid tries to negotiate the release of the hostages, MacMasters wants $4 million each for himself and his accomplices. He also wants pepperoni pizza and a medication refill. One of the hostages, a sex worker named Cherry (Bai Ling) who had been under arrest, is willing to go to any length to be released. As the clock is ticking, Kincaid must find a way to stop McMasters before it's too late.
Is It Any Good?
Don't waste your time. Sometimes movies are so bad in every possible way, you start to wonder if Western Civilization is on its way out. Lockdown is one of those movies. It's a no-budget hostage standoff action thriller that can be so hilariously inept, it's impossible to understand, aside from the low overhead, why such a thing would be released. For one instance of many, there's a discussion between the hostage-takers and the FBI negotiators over pizza that seems to take an eternity. More time is spent discussing pizza than the multimillion-dollar ransom.
It also comes across as a kind of crass parody of the kinds of thrillers where characters use profanity more often than verbs. There are times when, for no understandable reason, "f--k" is practically every other word. For many of the actors, breathing and blinking is outside of their limited range, to say nothing of being a competent member of law enforcement or a criminal mastermind struggling with mental illness. If this is a comedy, unintentional or not, it has some truly hilarious moments. Otherwise, it's just plain bad.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about crime thrillers like Lockdown. How does this compare to other movies in the genre that you've seen?
Was the overuse of profanity necessary to convey how these characters talk, or did it seem excessive? Why?
Can movies be enjoyable despite a low budget? How so? What are some examples?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : May 10, 2022
- Cast : Michael Pare , Michael Wainwright , Bai Ling
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s) , Asian Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Lionsgate Home Entertainment
- Genre : Thriller
- Run time : 90 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : Violence, pervasive language, and crude/violent sexual content.
- Last updated : May 2, 2022
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