Story: Ray Breslin has written the book (literally) on structural security. His job is to pose as a prisoner and then escape from that jail, in order to alert the authorities to its security flaws. The last job he accepts is to break out of an ultra-secure facility, whose location is secret. Once inside, Breslin realizes he must work with fellow inmate Emil Rottmayer in order to escape.
Review: After a successful breakout from a high-security lockup, Breslin's business partner Lester Clark (D'Onofrio) then convinces him to accept one last job offered to them by the CIA because of the large payout guaranteed to them. Accordingly, Breslin and work-mates Hush (50 Cent) and Abigail (Ryan) head to a rendezvous point in New Orleans. Things quickly take a different turn.
Like lumbering man-mountains, Breslin (Stallone) and Rottmayer (Schwarzenegger) harness some serious brain-muscle to go with the testosterone-powered brawn. Hafstrom (known for his horror flicks) gives each of the main characters clearly-defined attributes. Breslin never loses his cool. Rottmayer is unpredictable. The evil warden Hobbs (Caviezel) looks calm, unflappable and collects butterflies, but you get the feeling that inside, he's a raving psychopath. Dr Emil Kaikev (Sam Neill) is the prison doctor whose critical sense of conscience injects some much-needed pathos into the proceedings.
Arnie and Sly are synonymous with action films. Even though both, The Governator and the Italian Stallion are a tad worn around the edges, the two of them serve up some unfussy meat-and-potatoes fare. The script avoids cheesy lines but Schwarzenegger does have some memorable ones, like "You hit like a vegetarian".
Their biceps and forearms are as thick as hams, but the ammunition expenditure and fight scenes are scaled back. The pace does, however, go into higher gear during the second half. The characters fit to a tee, except for 50 Cent, incongruously miscast as a computer nerd! The action is routine but the way they plan the escape is interesting and inspired. These guys may be old, but they sure know their chops and can still deal the dice, old-school style.