Escape Room: Tournament of Champions

Escape Room: Tournament of Champions
Starring Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Holland Roden, Indya Moore
Directed by Adam Robitel

The concept of Escape Rooms were much more in demand before Covid-19, but due to obvious reasons they've fallen by the wayside in the past year. People don't want to touch things that've been touched over and over by other people before them, confining people in a small room, and all that anymore. Yet the novelty of an Escape Room is still as entertaining as ever, which was what propelled the original 2019 "Escape Room" to earn enough money to warrant an unnecessary sequel. Now, however, it feels more like a throwback to a bygone era, where Escape Rooms were all the rage and everyone was doing them (although now they might be picking back up again), and much like the nostalgia of pre-Covid days, "Tournament of Champions" relies on the past to try to bring forward the future, and in the end we get a film that's parallel to the original on almost every level.

Months after escaping their last death trap escape rooms, Zoey (Taylor Russell) and Ben (Logan Miller) decide to head to New York City to take on the mysterious group known as Minos who's behind the death trap escape rooms, since no one else believes what happened to Zoey, Ben, and those who lost their lives the last time around. While in New York City, they're on a subway with Nathan (Thomas Cocquerel), Rachel (Holland Roden), Brianna (Indya Moore), and Theo (Carlito Olivero), when their train car detaches from the rest of the train and comes to a sudden stop. Soon they realize they've been captured again by Minos, and must escape the train before they're all electrocuted. It's also there that Zoey and Ben learn that this is no accident - everyone in the train car went through their own escape rooms by Minos and made it out alive, turning this into a tournament of champions. As Zoey, Ben, and the rest of the group gather their wits and courage as they face each room, their indecision, impulsiveness and lack of cooperation could be all their undoing, as Zoey's plan to bring Minos to justice propels her forward, possibly at the cost of her fellow players' lives.

What "Escape Room" and its sequel have going for them is the excitement the rooms have to offer. Each room is unique, dazzlingly crafted, and intricate to its minuet detail. They're fascinating to try to figure out on your own, instead of relying on our gang of hapless characters talk over each other to try to figure the way out. It's also thought-provoking to think how a group like Minos could be so world-encompassing and powerful that they could literally create such lavish settings in the first place. This film starts off on a train that's fully electrified, then goes to an underground bank that's as large and lavish as you'd expect from a New York City bank, to a luxurious seaside beach and rainy New York City alley, all the while being crafted underground. How the heck can such a company accomplish this? It's mind-boggling.

We get to witness the return of Zoey and Ben, two characters that we totally forgot who their names were until they mentioned it, but Taylor Russell and Logan Miller really give it their all regardless. Russell turned from a shy, introverted girl to a determined, wannabe Ripley character who's bent on bringing Minos to justice no matter what, and it seems that this determination made her a bit more rusty in the escape room department. Miller serves as Russell's faithful lapdog, who follows her to New York because he owes her his life, even though she's putting his life back in danger. The most interesting part is seeing how the events of the past film have influenced their behaviors, and how the PTSD has really taken a toll on their mental health, but all that goes away once the subway car stops and the game begins.

Aside from the traps, clues, and escape rooms, however, there's not much else to enjoy here. The characters - despite being survivors from their own escape room misadventures - seem even less competent than Zoey and Ben's first group, as they succumb to the traps much easier than you'd expect. Perhaps that's due to the shared PTSD that they all share, but probably more with their natures. They're self-centered, impulsive, and seemingly filled with Adderall as they try to Road Runner their way through each room, making rookie mistakes that cost lives. The characters themselves are enjoyable and serve a good connection to the audience, but its hard to really connect on a personal level when all they do is scream and yell above one another about clues or ideas they have (which, in all honesty, is what happens when a group goes to a real-life escape room, so I guess they really nailed it).

In many ways, both these films are parallel to one another. Each one's main focus and excitement comes with the rooms themselves. The characters are almost note-for-note the same, despite most of them being different characters. The script tries to be smarter than it is, by providing twists and don't really make a lick of sense but seemingly wants to make the viewers feel like idiots for not figuring it out sooner (I actually figured it out way before). Both equally point out the shady, seemingly untouchable nature of Minos itself without shedding any light on what their true agenda is. In essence, it's just a continuation of the previous film more than a sequel, neither rising or falling compared to the original but maintaining its very linear, simplistic-complicated path.

Offering more excitement with unique escape room ideas, "Escape Room: Tournament of Champions" becomes more of the same as the original, providing nothing new that really establishes itself on its own merits but rather a continuation of the original, but at least it's filled with nonstop action and excitement.

The Score: D+