Tournament of Champions gives a little recap of it’s predecessor then picks right back up where the first film left off. The escape rooms this time around are a love letter to big cities as the victims are forced to escape torturous environments comprised of subways and acid rain at the film’s most inventive points.
The cast are an endearing mixed bag featuring a priest and a transgender IG model that turned out to be a favorite on screen. This is something that filmmakers in this era should take note of : a natural sense of inclusion, instead of a forced group of actors and actresses hired not for their talent, but only for their ethnic backgrounds. Everyone on screen here is a gem, despite how long or how short time they have in front of the cameras given the premise of the film. Indya Moore might have made it in time magazine as an influential individual in the LGBTQ rights movement, but here Moore gets to shine a light on the acting chops that brought attention originally to the Moore name, providing a sense of both comedic relief and realism to the role Indya portrayed, but still Moore’s portrayal does not overshadow Russell as the main protagonist and her actions walking the fine line between naivete and a vet of surviving horrid situations as audiences were treated to when being exposed to her backstory in the first film.
The violence was not over the top but still harrowing with the perfect electronic score to build up the right amount of paranoia and anxiety. Tournament of Champions is nothing new. It is a sequel …but instead of the expected jump scares , dark humor and reality based terror fill the short 90 minute runtime. Short but sweet. If your looking to park illegally and get away with it, then this is the film for you! And if the terror of getting your vehicle towed isn’t enough to worry you, then as Escape Room eventually lulls you in, you won’t be sinking into your seat for long!
SCORE: 4/5 stars
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