Why John Carpenter Should Come Out Of Retirement To Direct A Third Escape Movie

John Carpenter is one of the few Hollywood directors that can tackle any genre. From horror classics such as Halloween, Christine and The Thing to action-packed, Sci-Fi flicks such as They Live and Village of the Damned, John Carpenter is a master in cinema. Nevertheless, there are two movies that are more relevant today than at their time of release; Escape from New York and Escape from L.A. Set in a Dystopian future, these movies are riddled with political undertones that reflect modern society. Here is Why John Carpenter should come out of retirement to direct a third Escape movie.

Plot

     Paramount Pictures  

The first installment in the series, Escape from New York, is set in Dystopian 1988 New York as Manhattan is turned into a huge prison to deal with crime inflation. Fast-forward a few years to the late ’90s and New York is a hellish criminal wasteland. President John Harker is on his way to a peace summit when he is abducted by an opposing group, The National Liberation Front of America. While Harker manages to escape, he soon becomes a pawn in a series of events that lead former Lieutenant S.D. Plissken “Snake” to be blackmailed into rescuing Harker; if Snake succeeds, he will get a presidential pardon from his prison sentence…if he fails, he will be executed.

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Escape from L.A. has a drastic plot and setting shift. The sequel unfolds in early 2000s Los Angeles (or as named in the movie, Los Angeles Island) and instead of rescuing its president, Snake must retrieve a stolen remote for him capable of disabling electricity worldwide–the perfect way for any leader to control the world through the touch of a button. This time around, Snake goes against his original agenda midway and forms an alliance with the president’s runaway daughter, Utopia. Unlike its predecessor, which gives audiences a bittersweet ending with hope for a brighter future; Escape from L.A ends on a darker note (literally) as President Adam descends the world into a technological shutdown. Bigoted leaders and technological dependence are society’s core dilemmas in 2022.

Kurt Russell

     AVCO Embassy Pictures  

Snake isn’t Kurt Russell’s first time interpreting a military character, but it’s definitely the best-rounded rendition from his previous characterizations. Snake is a lethal adversary to anyone in his way, and yet has a higher morality than any other character in both Escape movies. Snake recoils by the reprehensible actions of both presidents, and by Escape from L.A’s conclusion, he accepts that anarchy is the better alternative over the dictatorship the world is heading in. John Carpenter does an excellent job at directing Kurt Russell into expressing the complexities of an anti-hero caught in utter hopelessness.

Anarchy

It is disturbing to imagine a society engulfed in anarchy, but to see it occur onscreen holds a greater effect. John Carpenter takes two of the most popular cities in the U.S. and turns them into the epicenter of social decay. For two of the world’s most populated, technologically equipped cities to fall into anarchy is horrifying. What’s more unsettling is their fictitious leaders taking advantage of the situation to create dictatorships, instead of uniting with their citizens; a scenario that seems derived from recent news headlines had it not been conceived over thirty years ago.

Chase Scenes

     Universal Pictures  

It’s no surprise that John Carpenter can direct intense chase scenes; after all, he gave audiences the iconic chase between Laurie and Michael Myers in Halloween. Both Escape from New York and Escape from L.A. have Snake running, jumping, and fighting criminals in interestingly choreographed and notably, justified chase scenes; none of them fall into redundancy. The standout chase occurs in Escape from L.A’.s climatic fight between Snake, his allies, and Cuervo in Anaheim’s “Happy Kingdom.” It’s incredibly entertaining to see a bloody fight with humanity’s livelihood in the balance occur inside a fictional Disneyland.

Conflict

John Carpenter’s films are successful not only due to their gore, action-packed scenes, and their vicious villains; Carpenter creates nearly insurmountable conflict to propel characters and events. Snake is a nuanced protagonist; he has no qualms in committing theft and murder to survive, but nevertheless has a strong moral compass. He refuses a high-ranking job opportunity by the end of Escape from New York when realizing Harker is a conniving bigot. In Escape from L.A., the stakes are considerably heightened; it’s not a matter of rejecting a reward or having his life spared; Snake completes his mission and costs Utopia her life, or he abandons it and has the president’s army launch a full attack against them. Spike is a staple Carpenter hero; perpetually conflicted and dealt life to death stakes.

A Master of Filmmaking

Whether for a third installment in the Escape franchise or simply to direct another movie, John Carpenter is a missed talent in Hollywood. He gave audiences the iconic horror franchise, Halloween; he made any enemy out of mother nature with The Fog, and crafts a touching romance with Starman. John Carpenter reinvigorates audiences in a manner definitive of filmmaking.