Well Deserved Praise

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

"No Escape" is an American short film from 5 years ago written and directed by Dan Trachtenberg. It runs for 7 minutes, 5.5 minutes without credits. Good thing about it is that you can enjoy this film no matter where you come from. You do not need to speak English as there is no dialogue in here. I am only vaguely aware of the game "Portal", even if I love the song "Still Alive", but fans of the game will certainly appreciate this short movie even more than I did. The action and effects are really close to what you have to do in the video game I believe. It is probably more about effects and action than about great acting or a great story, but the close connection to the game makes it work nonetheless in my opinion. And action/sci-fi really isn't my genre usually. Still I enjoyed the watch and give it a thumbs up. Recommended.

I found the special effects to be as cool as any mainstream Hollywood movie. With that skill, this could actually have been a full-length flick competing with other major releases being churned out.The music really fit the theme and truly held my attention to what was happening.The actor Danielle Rayne is fair, she at least plays the part physically with her ripped muscles :) Wish I could have seen more of this movie especially the action which was intriguing. Although I enjoy watching short movies, this could have gone a wee bit longer :)

A woman wakes up in a locked room with no way out and no contact with anyone. However, the discovery of a very odd gun changes that situation dramatically.Fans of the Portal video games will not need to be told too much more about the plot to know what this "odd gun" is as this fan film takes the mechanics of the game and makes it into an escape attempt that is exciting and cleverly done. Beyond that there isn't really a plot so much as an idea and a dramatic punch line at the end. The effects are very good whether it be the realism of the gun, the editing of the portals or moving the character through them. At 5 minutes long it fills the time easily even if there is a lot of build-up before we get into the action. The ending of the film is clever and made for a punchy way to close.The only cast of note is Danielle Rayne who does really well. Despite not saying a word, she has the physical presence to hold the attention while in her cell and also pull off the action later. Of course the lack of other speaking characters from the game is a little bit disappointing at first, but the more dramatic film would probably not have suited the more comedic input. Overall, No Escape is a great little short film that is driven by effects and atmosphere; it will of course play best to those that love the games and bring this with them to the film because the lack of story-telling does mean you need to know the scenario before you start.

This one will make the fanboys happy, but will leave most people cold. It makes the mistake of assuming you can cover for a lack of storytelling ability by having lots of Really Cool Effects, and referencing a popular game doesn't hurt.It's not clear how our hero figures anything out. She just does.It's not clear how any of this portal magic works. You're just supposed to know already, even though the character doesn't. Until she does.It's not clear why the obvious weapon is never actually used as a weapon.These are the kinds of things that aren't really useful as big revelations at the end, but need explanation as they happen.