The only one of several same-titled movies in recent years to make a significant commercial dent, Adam Robitel’s 2019 “Escape Room” proved a considerable sleeper hit, making back many times its mod…
) were the only successful escapees from a labyrinth of booby-trapped environs that claimed the lives of their four co-“players” last time around, as an opening montage rapidly reviews. Then, the strangers were lured in by an innocent-looking invitation to compete for prize money. Now, they’re not about to fall for another such ruse, but suspect, shadowy Minos Co. will ensnare them anyhow.
Once out of this frying pan, those still alive jump into the next fire, then the next. There’s an art deco bank lobby rigged up as a maze of deadly laser beams, an oceanfront mockup collapsing into a sandy sinkhole; and a fake city block raked every 30 seconds by acid rain. On each elaborate set, the characters scramble to find clues and passcodes against a ticking clock.
The conceit of constant, Rube Goldbergian perils sparked a certain degree of ingenuity from the “Final Destination” and “Saw” series. But here, despite solid-enough work from production designer Edward Thomas and the FX personnel, the crises don’t have a lot of imaginative panache, and the set-pieces are busy but unmemorable.
A Numero Deux is where the overall mystery should deepen, feeding our curiosity toward whatever grand conspiracy is behind it all, so that No. 3 offers satisfactions other than just another few deaths. But the many screenwriters credited don’t bother: We learn nothing about Minos beyond it apparently staging these spectacles to satisfy the long-distance bloodlust of rich subscribers. “Tournament” plays more like a No.
Nonetheless, if it’s almost 90 minutes of distracting but unchallenging sound and fury you’re after, something too fast-paced for its gaping implausibilities to matter, “Champions” is a competently crafted B-movie. The most, perhaps the only thing, you can say about it with enthusiasm is that it’s not boring. Which isn’t much, but it is something.
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