Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (2021)

Directed by: Adam Robitel | 88 minutes | action, thriller, adventure | Actors: Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Deborah Ann Woll, Thomas Cocquerel, Holland Roden, Indya Moore, Carlito Olivero, Matt Esof, Jamie-Lee Money, Wayne Harrison, Lucy Newman-Williams, Scott Coker, Jay Ellis, Tyler Labine, Nik Dodani, Yorick van Wageningen, Isabelle Fuhrman, James Frain

After the success of ‘Escape Room’ from 2019, director Adam Robitel was allowed to canning a sequel. And just like its predecessor, ‘Escape Room: Tournament of Champions’ has become a light-hearted affair. It is a film that is “nice to look away” but which no one talks about afterwards. Is that bad? No, that’s okay.

In ‘Escape Room: Tournament of Champions’, the two survivors from the first part go in search of the organizers of the murderous Escape Rooms. The two youngsters (a rather whiny Taylor Russell and an excited Logan Miller) embark on a journey to bring the villains who held them captive to justice. Of course that is not easy and it soon becomes apparent that the duo has made the wrong decision. Before they know it, the couple are once again trapped in a murderous version of an Escape Room! This time they must team up with other survivors. In this ‘Tournament of Champions’ the survivors have to survive the game together. That’s not easy!

In this part, so-called ‘experienced’ players have to complete tasks together to escape from the Escape Rooms. Just like in the first part, those missions and accompanying puzzles are rather far-fetched and complicated. The fact that the players solve the complex assignments in record time does not make the film more believable. Although no one watches this teen horror film (there is little blood involved and if there is acid in the game, the camera turns away) for logic. At least that wouldn’t be wise…

‘Escape Room: Tournament of Champions’ is a light-hearted horror film with a funny premise. The Escape Rooms are well thought out and the speed is good. The fact that this film doesn’t stick is due to the interchangeable protagonists, the lack of gore, the clinical digital special effects and the now exhausted concept of a murderous Escape Room. Robitel has done well to keep his film under 90 minutes running time.