Nice Parody, So-So Movie
Rating: 7 of 10 
John Carpenter seems not to take himself too seriously with this sequel to 'Escape from New York'. But I can see no real problem with that. Kurt Russel shines, and the other characters are hip caricatures of their predecessors. The dimensions are totally overblown, the conventions of science fiction served only half-heartedly by telling the history of the future, but this half-hearted approach is the essence of this movie. Unless I'm totally mistaken, this is intended to be a parody of himself - and in that, it succeeds, more or less.
A parody still has to work. 'Escape from L.A.' does and doesn't, mostly it doesn't at the end and approaching the end. Some things are just too much. The flying and surfing is simply overdoing it, and it is just for the effect. There I don't really believe the cheasiness to be intentional, this smells of B-movie, "B" like in "Bad". That's sad, as it destroys an otherwise perfect parody.
Snake is back, indeed, and his misanthrophic attitude can be refreshing, especially in the end. The music by Shirlee Walker sounds interesting, however, it's not the same as her brilliant contributions for Space: AAB. The visual effects are good, with some painful exceptions like the underwater sequences. It seems that especially after the equally unbalanced 'Vampires', Carpenter should decide whether to let his voice get lost in mediocrity or to again create something utterly unique and excellent - of which he has proven so often that he is able to do so.
October 1st, 2000
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