Escape from L.A.

Paramount Pictures | Release Date: August 9, 1996

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

54	METASCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews

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Critic Reviews

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Noel Murray

Escape From L.A. is a mild letdown. It repeats the basic plot of the original, with a lighter tone, cheaper-looking (yet actually more expensive) special effects, and a grunge soundtrack. Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

Carpenter never was the filmmaker his cult claimed him to be, but in Escape From L.A., he at least has the instinct to keep his hero moving, like some leather-biker Candide. Read full review

TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)

Good, dirty, escapist fun. Read full review

Jay Carr

At times, the dead space in Escape from L.A. becomes impossible to ignore. But if it never quite becomes the wild ride it sets out to be, it's seldom boring to watch, either. [09 Aug 1996, p.C6]

Stephen Holden

Escape From L.A., which the director wrote with Mr. Russell and Debra Hill, is much too giddy to make sense as a politically astute pop fable. As amusing as some of its notions may be, none are developed into sustained running jokes. [09 Aug 1996, p.C5]

Desmond Ryan

In returning to what is basically the same premise, Carpenter gives us an update as well as a sequel. [09 Aug 1996, p.5]

Christopher Harris

Escape from L.A. is too preposterous to be a good film. But in keeping with its title, it does provide a couple of hours of entertaining escapism. [12 Aug 1996, p.C1]

EmpireKim Newman

A monumentally misconceived sequel, Escape from L. A. is the huge, shonky blemish on the magnificent history of John Carpenter and Kurt Russell. Read full review

Time Out LondonStaff (Not Credited)

After 15 years of computer-generated effects, apocalyptic sci-fi and Arnie movies with flippant kiss-off lines, the sequel feels hackneyed and pointless. Read full review

Phil Pirrello

There is a good story to further the violent adventures of Snake along; this is far from it. There are awesome, in-joke-with-your-friends guilty pleasures, and then there's Escape From L.A.. Read full review

Jay Boyar

Failed attempts at satire aside, John Carpenter's Escape From L.A. is basically a routine action picture. [09 Aug 1996, p.22]

Todd McCarthy

Nocturnal setting, uneven tone, abrasive score and only fitfully successful attempts at humor create a generally grim atmosphere, occasionally leavened by goofy ideas and flashes of explosive action.