A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Escape Room: Tournament of Champions is the sequel to Escape Room [2019]. Both films are horror movies about puzzle-box death traps. Characters are in near-constant peril, with tension, threat, and screaming. Some characters die in brutal ways [electrocution, quicksand, acid rain, etc.], and various injuries are shown. There are also flashbacks to deaths in the first movie. Language includes several uses of "s--t" and less frequent uses of "f--k," "a--hole," "bitch," "goddamn," etc. A character starts to smoke a cigarette and is stopped, and a man takes a big swig from a flask. Sex isn't an issue, but there's a small, possible moment of romantic tension between two characters. While this isn't a great sequel, it does offer enough clever puzzles to generate some nail-biting suspense, especially for fans of the original.
Community Reviews
- Parents say [2]
- Kids say [11]
July 29, 2021
Traumatizing
My daughter and a friend went and they are 12yo and 13yo. they were pretty scared after, way more than with the 1st one. If your child is sensitive to horror movies be aware that this will keep them awake at night!
July 26, 2021
Amazing for mature kids!
My family loved the movie my 11 year old daughter really enjoyed the characters, even my 10 year old son thought the movie was fine for his age
What's the Story?
In ESCAPE ROOM: TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS, Zoey Davis [Taylor Russell] and Ben Miller [Logan Miller] are still traumatized by the events of the first movie. Despite their vow to go to New York to investigate the evil organization behind the escape room death traps they survived, Zoey is unable to get around her fear of flying. So they hit the road together. No sooner do they arrive at their destination than a thief takes Zoey's prize compass. They give chase and wind up on a subway car. But they soon realize that the car isn't stopping, and that the other passengers are survivors of other deadly games -- and a new game has begun. Can Zoey and Ben make it out a second time?
Is It Any Good?
Despite a slightly too-familiar plot arc, this scant sequel nonetheless offers some cool, intricately designed puzzles and likable enough characters to create a satisfying punch of white-knuckle fun. Again directed by Adam Robitel [the original Escape Room and Insidious: The Last Key], Escape Room: Tournament of Champions borrows an idea from the second Hunger Games -- all the survivors must reassemble to compete -- but, given that the villains of these movies are part of a mysterious, unseen, unknown entity, it works well enough. And after spending a bit too much time getting Zoey and Ben on the road, things kick up a notch.
The traps -- on the subway train, then in a mysterious bank, on a postcard-like beach, on a city street, and more -- are indeed tricky. Despite their frenzy, with characters racing against the clock and shouting at one another, often above either some kind of ominous noise or the music score, the little clues make sense, and the puzzles come together in interesting ways. Every small move could be right or wrong, and these sequences, which make up the majority of the movie, are real seat-grabbers. Escape Room: Tournament of Champions could have tried a little harder on its ending, but there's still enough here for a tense, fun watch.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Escape Room: Tournament of Champions's violence. How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?
What's the appeal of horror movies? Why do people sometimes like to feel scared?
How does this movie compare to the original? Does the story go into any new directions?
How does the movie demonstrate teamwork, even in the face of certain death?
Movie Details
- In theaters: July 16, 2021
- On DVD or streaming: October 5, 2021
- Cast: Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Holland Roden
- Director: Adam Robitel
- Studios: Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Releasing
- Genre: Horror
- Run time: 88 minutes
- MPAA rating: PG-13
- MPAA explanation: violence, terror/peril and strong language
- Last updated: October 8, 2022
Typically the changes between a theatrical and extended cut
are slight. Additional seconds go onto the beginning or end of an existing scene; a deleted scene that offers more exposition or a character beat at the expense of pacing; dialogue trimmed because it’s redundant or repetitive. Every once in a while, however, the extra content can be illuminating or vital. This is most definitely the case for Escape Room 2: Tournament of Champions, which includes an Extended Cut featuring 25 minutes of new footage, two new characters [played by
Isabelle Fuhrman and James Frain] and completely alters the narrative of the film. Minor spoilers follow… The Theatrical Cut The sequel, directed by Adam Robitel and written by Will Honley, Daniel Tuch, Oren Uziel, and Maria Melnik, focuses on Zoey Davis [Taylor Russell] and Ben Miller [Logan Miller], the sole survivors of the first film.
Zoey has become obsessed with defeating Manos, the shadowy company that developed and profits from the killer escape rooms. In the first film’s closing moments, Zoey zeroed in on a building in New York, so in the opening scenes of the sequel, she and Ben drive to the Big Apple. Once there they are almost immediately lured into a new series of games along with survivors of other games. The group includes hearing impaired Theo [Carlito Olivero], alcoholic former priest
Nathan [Thomas Cocquerel], travel blogger Brianna [Indya Moore], and Rachel [Holland Roden] who has congenital analgesia, a condition that prevents her from physically feeling pain. The cast is more likeable than the group from the first film and the new rooms, which consist of an electrified subway car, a laser-trapped art deco bank, a sinking sand trap, an acid rain street and a burning attic, are exciting and ambitious. The sequel
elevates the stakes and the film leaps into action far quicker because the premise has already been established, so there’s no need for perfunctory exposition. One small gripe: both Theo and Nathan seem like unlikely survivors considering how slow they are to respond to danger and gameplay. In this capacity the female characters are far more interesting, which may explain why they wind up getting better moments and more screentime.
The Extended Cut
Much of the gameplay involving Zoey, Ben and the others remains the same, but the Extended Cut includes bookended scenes with new characters Claire [Fuhrman] and her father Henry [Frain]. In the 2003-set opening, pre-teen Claire and her mother return to their mansion where the mother requests a divorce from a harried Henry, who is busy at work as a Manos puzzle maker. She then meets a grisly end in the steam room as Claire organizes a suitcase full of memorabilia from the day’s journey.
The film then moves into the Theatrical Cut [with a few of the early scenes of Zoey’s therapy sessions excised]. When the film shifts to the acid rain scene, the Extended Cut resumes with a vengeance, as Claire becomes Zoey’s co-conspirator in surviving the game and Henry becomes the main antagonist of the film.
What’s fascinating about this new footage is how much it alters the direction of the film. While the resolution of both versions come down to Zoey [re]discovering her agency, the Extended Cut recontextualizes what audiences know about Manos and establishes an exciting new direction for future sequels in a way that the Theatrical Cut doesn’t.
It’s easy to understand why the Theatrical Cut was released: it’s a more streamlined film with better pacing in the first act. It also keeps the focus on Zoey and Ben. Comparably, the Extended Cut pulls focus from Zoey so that she and Claire become joint protagonists by film’s end.
So Which Cut Is Better?
The end of the Theatrical Cut is definitely weaker and requires significantly more suspension of disbelief, though Zoey [and to a lesser extent Ben] remains the central figure. By introducing Claire in the opening, the Extended Cut reframes the narrative around her and Zoey, which pays off significantly in the last act.
The Extended Cut not only offers an exciting direction for a potential third entry, it teases Manos’ larger plan, which is something both the original film and the Theatrical Cut hint at, but fail to substantially deliver on.
Perhaps it’s simply because I saw the Theatrical Cut first, but the Extended Cut feels like the more interesting version of this tale. It truly is a completely different film, which is fascinating and exciting. It’s my preferred Cut because of the new storytelling avenues it opens up, and is well worth picking up the physical release to check out.
My only complaint is that we need an audio commentary or some unique special features by the writers and/or Robitel walking through the new content. While the three featurettes offer some interesting insights, they’re far too brief and only touch on the Theatrical Cut. It’s a big missed opportunity not to have specific bonus content elaborating on the development of both Cuts.
- Theatrical Cut: 3.5/5
- Extended Cut: 4/5
- Bonus Content: 2/5
Escape Room 2: Tournament of Champions is now available on Blu