Escape Plan 2: Hades

Escape Plan 2: Hades is a 2018 action film directed by Steven C. Miller. It is the sequel to the 2013 film Escape Plan and features Sylvester Stallone and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson reprising their roles from the first film, with Dave Bautista, Huang Xiaoming, Jaime King, Jesse Metcalfe, Titus Welliver, and Wes Chatham joining the cast. The film was released straight to DVD in the United States and theatrically in Russia on June 28, 2018, in China on June 29, 2018 and in Italy on August 22, 2018.

Upon release, the film became a box office and critical failure. It grossed $14 million against a production budget of $20 million.

Despite the film's failure, a sequel, Escape Plan 3: Devil's Station, is set to be released.

Plot
Some time after escaping The Tomb in the first film, Ray Breslin starts up a security company with Hush and Abigail serving as his senior staff members, recruiting Shu Ren, Jasper Kimbral, and Luke as field operatives. During a hostage rescue mission in Chechnya, Kimbral breaks unity with the team by relying on a computer algorithm to complete the mission, causing a complication that results in a female hostage dying from stray gunfire. Due to the botched outcome of the rescue mission, Kimbral is fired from the team.

One year later, Shu is requested by his family cousin to protect satellite businessman cousin Yusheng from technology giant Ruscho. Ruscho made three attempts to buy out Yusheng’s technology, only to be rebuffed. At Yusheng's party in Bangkok Thailand, masked men try to kidnap Yusheng. Shu beats them with his fighting skills, but they shoot him with electric guns knocking him unconscious.

When he wakes up, he finds himself in prison where he is asked to battle with another prison inmate Akala. He wins the battle and his reward is that he gets two hours of time in sanctuary. Meanwhile, Luke, Hush, and Breslin try to find Shu in the outside world after noting his disappearance along with his Yusheng. After the sanctuary time, when returning to his cell, Shu sees Kimbral inside the prison. Recalling all of the knowledge learned from Breslin, Shu makes plans to break out of the prison. Later Shu meets Gregor Faust, nicknamed "The Zookeeper" who calls this prison The Zoo. The zookeeper informs Shu that his cousin has given up his first patent technology and all its specs and details, now they want his second patent, which Yusheng does not want to give to them. The zookeeper asks Shu to help retrieve this second patent. When Shu asks his cousin about these patents, Yusheng reveals that his first patent is nothing but his second patent is very dangerous if it gets into the wrong hands, as anyone can control any system through his second patented technology, any defence systems can be shut down, any nuclear weapons can be launched.

Shu meets up with Kimbral and he informs them that they are in H.A.D.E.S. (High Asset DEtention Service) Prison, built using technology, Galileo, and that he has been in the prison for couple of months now. While on the outside, Breslin finds that Shu and Yusheng are in HADES and learn that it is also funded by a mysterious group responsible for The Tomb. Breslin takes help from acquaintance Trent DeRosa, while Luke gets caught and is placed in HADES prison.

Shu works on getting the layout of the prison, but runs into complications. After getting information from the cook, Shu learns that the prison shifts every night and all his hope of getting the layout of the prison shatters. Then Kimbral informs him that Legions(3 other inmates) can help him if he find who is the head of the three people as the head, Count Zero, has specs of the prison. Shu befriends them and questions Count Zero for the layout. The following day, Shu, Luke and Kimbral are in the control chamber tied to chairs and forced to watch through a monitor as Count Zero is taken by the prison guards. Here, Kimbral reveals that he is the one running the Zoo after being approached by the Tomb creators when Breslin dismissed him from the company.

Breslin and DeRosa deduce Kimbral’s identity as the prison’s owner, and learn that Kimbral kidnapped the operatives as revenge. Breslin is also taken to the prison and Kimbral challenges him to break out of the Prison. Using a high-tech communications toothimplanted inside Breslin, Hush tries to get the layout of the prison from the outside. Breslin, Shu, and Luke communicate without cameras noticing them when Hush momentarily disables the cameras. Yusheng, Akala, the remaining two Legions, and the cook help on the prison escape. Hush gets 100% layout of the prison and shuts down Galileo. Everyone uses the chance to get to the medical center. The Legions and Akala stay there, while Breslin, Shu, Luke and Yusheng continue on with their plan. While attempting to maintain control of the medical center, the Legions and Akala are killed by Kimbral’s men. Breslin, Shu, Luke and Yusheng get scattered.

Shu and Faust get engaged in a knife fight, ending with Shu killing Faust, while Breslin gets to the control room and enters into a hand-to-hand fight with Kimbral. When Yusheng blows up the Solar panels, DeRosa uses the distraction to find the location of HADES and enters into the prison by force knocking down one of the walls. DeRosa saves Luke while killing the guards before destroying Galileo. Shu and Yusheng are able to exit HADES safely to meet with Hush waiting for them. Breslin wins the battle and meets with DeRosa and Luke in the control room. Later, Breslin reveals to Luke that HADES is located in Atlanta. As they work, a man contacts HADES calling for Kimbral. Breslin warns him that while he doesn't know who the man is, he will now be coming after him for his role in the events.

Cast

 * Sylvester Stallone as Ray Breslin
 * Dave Bautista as Trent DeRosa, former associate of Breslin security
 * Huang Xiaoming as Shu Ren, protege of Breslin
 * Jaime King as Abigail Ross, vp of breslin security
 * Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson as Hush, computer hacker working for Breslin
 * Jesse Metcalfe as Lucas "Luke" Graves, Protege of Breslin
 * Wes Chatham as Jaspar Kimbral, Breslin former protege turned warden of hades
 * Titus Welliver as Gregor Faust (“The Zookeeper”) of hades
 * Shea Buckner as Larry
 * Lydia Hull as Jules
 * Chen Tang as Yusheng Ma
 * Tyron Woodley as Akala
 * Pete Wentz as Bug

Production
Development was first announced in October 2016, with Sylvester Stallone returning to star. It was announced in February 2017 that Steven C. Miller would helm the film, and that there was potential for Arnold Schwarzenegger to reprise his role from the first. Chinese film production company Leomus Pictures was set as a co-financer for the film. In March 2017, Dave Bautista, Jaime King and 50 Cent were added to the cast, with the additions of Jesse Metcalfe, Pete Wentz and Wes Chatham later in the month. By March 22, filming had begun in Atlanta, Georgia, with Stallone sharing a video from the set and revealing the title as Escape Plan 2: Hades, as well as announcing a third film was in development. Tyron Woodley was revealed as part of the cast in April.

Reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 10% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 2.6/10.

David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a "D–" and wrote: "Hades might boast some decent star power, but there isn’t a celebrity in the world who could save this bargain bin nonsense from feeling like a bootlegged ripoff of its own franchise. Not even Arnold Schwarzenegger, who faced off against Stallone in the first one, could have rescued this from abject boredom."

Sequel
In April 2017, a third film entered the early stages of development with Stallone again signed on to reprise his role as Ray Breslin. Dave Bautista has also signed on to reprise his role in Escape Plan 3: Devil's Station with filming to begin in September 2017.