Snake’s Bite Saves ‘Escapte From L.A.’

For some movie fans, pointlessness is one of the most despised aspects of a bad film. On rare occasions, though, a movie comes out that - by not taking itself too seriously - can transform pointlessness into a virtue.

“Escape from L.A.” is just that rare kind of movie. There was no plot to speak of; the setting and characters were, at best, farfetched. Even the music was bad. Yet “Escape” was pure joy to watch.

Kurt Russell stars as Snake, a renowned criminal in a futuristic United States where smoking and red meat are outlawed. Until now, Snake has been able to avoid capture and deportation to the island of L.A.

In this future world, L.A. has separated from the mainland and become a jail for moral criminals unsuited to life in the new religious America. Predictably, a resistance has developed and the citizens of L.A. are planning to attack the mainland.

In a nutshell, Snake will be let free if he can stop the attack.

The entire attack is based in a “black box,” which holds the power to shut down the power of anything - from a taxicab in Brazil to the nation of Spain. Snake is to seize the box.

All that follows is hardly worthy of the big screen, except Kurt Russell. He rarely speaks, but when he does it keeps the audience laughing for as long as it takes to come up with another memorable one-liner.

Russell’s brilliant caricature of a typical tough-guy action hero is classic. While he conjures images of Schwarzenegger and Stallone at their best, he simultaneously mocks them.

Outside of Russell, everything about “Escape from L.A.” is awful. Luckily, an hour and a half of Snake is worth the ticket price - pointless and all.

Grade: B