Getaway (2013) Reviews

• Nothing but a nauseating, noisy mess

  ryan_aus042013-08-27

  A late night car chase through the cosmopolitan streets of Sofia, Bulgaria; throbbing with that distinct and exotic coolness European cities exude when darkness falls... it's an idea that could have been executed very well. Unfortunately not in the case of Getaway, which instead slaughters the idea so poorly you can't help but feel sorry for it.  Everyone loves a good car chase. You won't find one in Getaway though. All the chase scenes are nothing more than a nauseating rapid succession of very brief cuts. It's literally   impossible to get a wider picture and understanding of what is going. Many scenes could have been quite impressive if they had just been shot at a wider angle and held a longer frame. This does not happen once though. The breakneck speed at which the cuts are made (close up of car headlights-exploding box-back wheel-driver-back to headlights) just doesn't allow the chase to flow and is frustrating to watch. How can one appreciate what's happening when they can't even see what's happening? Selena Gomez may be trying to break out of her Disney image (and good for her) but that doesn't mean she's suited to every role. Her performance here feels weak and definitely isn't helped by an even weaker dialogue. Ethan Hawke's performance is more believable, but it's only one taste bud of sweetness in the overall bad taste this movie leaves.  There's pretty much zero laughs, the first half is filled with the characters bickering annoyingly, the chase scenes are visually unwatchable, it's painfully unnecessarily noisy and the plot is nothing but mediocre.  Fortunately I viewed the film at an advance screening and therefore given it was free I just felt disappointed, rather than feeling ripped off as I would have had I actually handed over my hard earned dollars in exchange for that mess. I tried my best to enjoy the film, but to be honest all I wanted to do was getaway.  

• The Title is the Only Thing Right About This Film

  Michael_Elliott2013-09-12

  Getaway (2013) BOMB (out of 4) What on Earth could Ethan Hawke have done that caused the producers of this thing to be able to blackmail him into appearing in this film? In the film, Hawke plays a former NASCAR driver whose wife is kidnapped by some maniac on a phone (Jon Voight). This maniac forces Hawke to drive all over the place, cause large amounts of damage and it's up to the poor viewer to figure out why. GETAWAY is without question one of the worst movies of the year. It takes elements of SAW, TAKEN and DRIVE and puts them in a blender but the end result is just downright horrid. The most shocking thing is the fact that director Courtney Solomon has made one of the ugliest, more boring action pictures in the history of cinema. He has bragged that no CGI was used in the car stunts but it really doesn't matter if it's true because the scenes are so poorly shot and many times it's just one second clips with quick editing, which is just annoying. The entire visual style of this picture seems like some kid got ahold of some editing equipment and didn't know what he was doing. While watching the picture I couldn't help but think of the director and editor in the editing room giving each other high fives and saying "awesome" non-stop. Another problem is the dialogue, which is just downright horrid and it's amazing that actors like Hawke and Voight can keep a straight face while saying it. The performances are even worse with Hawke sleep-walking through the role and every scene just seems like he's wanting to walk away from the camera and go home. Voight pretty much gets to do nothing except talk with a funny accent and this adds nothing to the picture. As for Selena Gomez, I've seen her acting ability before and it's the time I saw a dead goldfish sitting at the bottom of its bowl. GETAWAY doesn't have a single thing going for it but my expectations were low going in. I just never could have imagined that a major studio would release a picture like this into theaters. I'm sure even the low-standards of Cinemax would have turned this thing down.

• "Getaway" from this train wreck

  rileyjustin3062013-08-29

  The "plot" follows Former race car driver Brent Magna (Played by Ethan Hawke.) Who discovers that his wife has been kidnapped by a mysterious man referred to as the Voice,(Played by Jon Voight.) Who promises to promises to return her to safety if he completes a series of broad and laughable tasks while driving through the streets of Sofia, Bulgaria in a supped up Shelby Super Snake Mustang. Along the way, he runs into the original owner of the Mustang named "The Kid" (Played by Selena Gomez.) Now, at first glance it's very easy to see that this movie's plot and characters are there to serve as a backdrop for the action, which would at least be tolerable, if the action was any good, sadly that is not the case here. Getaway is weighted Down by it's clunky script and frantic direction. The action sequences are unwatchable, consisting of exhaustingly monotonous and poorly edited car chases. And in the rare moments where it escapes that monotony, it usually crosses the border into unintentional hilarity. The Acting is terrible. Though in Ethan Hawke and Selena Gomez' defense, the horrible dialogue (which consists mostly of sh*t and a**hole) is to more to blame then they are. Never has a movie been more apply titled than "Getaway". Because it's warning you to "Getaway" and avoid this clunker at all costs.

• Brainless, but not fun

  dragracedude2013-08-31

  According to another user, this movie is "brainless fun", which I really must contend with. This movie sure is brainless, but there isn't much fun to be found here. The script is dismal, the central plot makes no sense, and the chase sequences are edited in the contemporary shaky-cam style that makes it hard to tell what is going on at some points, which really gets my goat. The whole reason I went to see this movie is to see some kick-butt car cinematography, but there is better, free content on youtube that I could have watched to whet my appetite(like Ken Block's gymkhana series or vintage rally B-group footage). To say that I am disappointed would be a lie, I had a feeling this movie would be a dud because they hardly marketed it at all and released at the end of summer, which is always a bad sign. Ethan Hawke's performance may be the only redeemable part of this movie, as I could really tell he was working hard to make the 11th grade level dialog work. Selena Gomez's acting was predictably sub-par, it seems to me the only reason she was included in Getaway was to get guys my age into the theater. And if the two other dudes in the theater besides my friends and I are evidence, it didn't work. In short, don't waste your time on Getaway, watch The Transporter or Top Gear instead to get your gearhead action fix.

• Absolutely Horrendous

  molokobones2013-09-21

  Bad script, bad story, unbelievable scenes! What do you call it, I think it's second hand embarrassment or shame. Within the first 20 minutes, I saw 2 people walk out of this show, and I kid you not when I say I swear there were lots of people who slept all throughout. How could they even release this movie? I'm all for Ethan Hawke but c'mon! Bad chemistry between Ethan and Selena. Unbelievable scenes where you might be wondering if this was all a joke or not. All throughout the movie my mind was floating else where. This was so painful to watch. I'd save money and just watch another movie if I were you. I still can't believe this movie was actually released. Who were they kidding?!