Review - Getaway (2013)

Starring Ethan Hawke, Selena Gomez and Jon Voight.
Directed by Courtney Solomon.

Getaway should change its title to Stayaway - stay away audiences. The movie wastes no time and jumps right into the action from the get-go; Brent Magna's (Ethan Hawke) wife is kidnapped by a mysterious man who demands that Brent follow his instructions or else his wife will die.

There and then, this movie plunges into non-stop car chases when Brent steals a car and evades multiple police vehicles over and over again with non-stop smashing. The entire movie pretty much takes place in this car and sadly nothing else really happens. We then meet Selena Gomez's character (who happened to be the original owner of the car). She is forced into this ordeal and becomes Ethan Hawke's annoying partner on this boring chase marathon.

On the positive side, we actually learn a little about our two main characters. Brent is a former race car driver who got discouraged; while Selena Gomez's character has rich daddy issues and is on the verge of being disowned by him. While some elements of the plot is stupid, I didn't think it was bad overall. The plot piqued my interest a little; especially when I realized that certain aspects fitted well and were being staged by the antagonist. Unfortunately this is all wasted because the movie resorts to constant car chasing and smashing that I got so annoyed and didn't care after awhile. Sometimes a little less action is better.

One would think that a movie with car chases from start to finish would be thrilling and exciting --- but not in this case. Even the cinematographers failed; Getaway is poorly shot. The camera work sucks; the inside-outside manoeuvring was poor and some of the chase scenes looks like it was shot using old technology. Ethan Hawke and Selena Gomez are practically given nothing to work with because the script is terrible. Selena's acting does come off a bit forced but I can't even blame her --both actors are wasted in this movie. The antagonist (Jon Voight) was solid but he alone could not save this mess. There is a stupid twist at the end which furthermore added to the miserable experience of watching Getaway --- it made the movie feel totally pointless afterwards.

Getaway is nothing but tedious car chases over and over. I'm not even sure why Jon Voight's face was hidden the entire movie. What was the point?

Rating: 2/10