'Lockout' stuck in the past

The year is 2079, but some things haven't gone out of style, according to the sci-fi action flick "Lockout." Secret agents still lug around metal briefcases, they still hide things in low-tech train-station lockers and they still calm their nerves by having a smoke. Apparently, even Zippo is still in business.

These are sure signs that the makers of "Lockout" weren't paying close attention when they reworked their antiquated script into a futuristic space-prison movie. That's too bad, because "Lockout" has an appealing lead in Guy Pearce, whose tightly coiled intensity worked so well in "Memento," and its producer and co-writer is Luc Besson, the French king of the cheap thrill ("The Transporter," "Taken"). But there's cheap, and then there's this rip-off.

"Lockout" might have gotten by if it displayed a little creativity, but writer-directors Stephen St. Leger and James Mather can't even reach basic believability. It's one thing to stage a prison riot and forget to include any guards. But hurling characters through space down to Earth -- with nothing but parachutes -- does not pass the laugh test.

From the overall story to the niggling details, nearly everything in this ostensibly high-tech movie feels hopelessly outmoded. Would you believe that in 2079, cops still show up to interrogation rooms holding paper cups of coffee? Even Java Jacket is still in business.

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