Have you heard of the “Escape Plan” franchise? There’s no reason to fret if you haven’t, as only the first film in the series — simply titled “Escape Plan” — was a moderate hit, garnering mixed reviews at the time of release. The remaining two entries ended up being straight-to-video sequels, with little to no marketing to amplify their existence, so it is pretty natural to have completely missed out on the franchise. 

Well, due to the baffling, arbitrary nature of Netflix’s algorithm, which often leads to overlooked titles landing in their Top 10 ranking lists, 2013’s “Escape Plan” is currently at #3 among the streaming platform’s Top 10 Movies in the U.S. (via FlixPatrol). This entry has been eclipsed by two equally unconventional titles: the inoffensive, yet mediocre “The Garfield Movie” at #2, and the morbid 90-minute crime documentary “Jailbreak: Love on the Run” occupying the number one spot.

If you never heard of “Escape Plan,” you might be equally surprised to learn that “Escape Plan” is led by two legendary action stars — Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone — and it is the first film to have paired these actors as co-leads. This sounds brilliant on paper, and most of the film’s enjoyable popcorn quotient does stem from this duo, but is that enough to sustain a story without meaningful stakes? 

Interestingly, Schwarzenegger did not return for any of the sequels, namely “Escape Plan 2: Hades” and “Escape Plan: The Extractors,” but Stallone reprised his role as security expert Ray Breslin in both films and was joined by a stacked cast. Without further ado, let us find out what “Escape Plan” is really about and what might be the reason behind its sudden popularity within the context of streaming metrics.

Spoilers for “Escape Plan” to follow.

Ray Breslin (Stallone), the owner of a security firm (that specializes in securing supermax prisons), regularly poses as an inmate to gauge a facility’s structural weakness and determine whether he can escape. This sounds risky as hell, cause it is, but Breslin’s motivations are far more complex, revolving around an escaped convict who had killed his family. Breslin and his business partner Lester (Vincent D’Onofrio) are tasked to test out a top-secret prison without them knowing its true location, but the plan does not work, after he is drugged and dragged inside. Completely cut off from his superiors, Breslin befriends an inmate named Emil Rottmayer (Schwarzenegger), a security expert who can aid his escape.

Whatever happens next is generally entertaining, with Stallone and Schwarzenegger’s screen presence preventing the weak script from collapsing on itself, and the curveballs thrown at us are not as hard-hitting as they are set up to be. However, that is completely fine, as the best moments in the film are not the action-oriented sequences (although they should be, from a logical standpoint, when one considers the leads), but the sleuthing shenanigans that Breslin and Rottmayer engage in while figuring out the true location of the mysterious prison, known as The Tomb. Despite the semi-engaging fun that the film promises, it evokes the constant nagging feeling that both leads deserve way better, as their chemistry is on point, even when the script gives them very little reason to gel together in ways we would want them to.

There are some delightful bits, such as when Rottmayer fakes an evil monologue mixed with the Lord’s Prayer inside the solitary cell to create a diversion for Breslin’s sake. The whole sequence is surreally strange, and not necessarily in a terrible way. This is also the most memorable part of the film, which hurtles toward an ending that does not warrant much analysis or scrutiny. But hey, not every film is meant to function that way, and it is perfectly fine for an action-thriller to be a forgettable one-time watch.

“Escape Plan” is currently streaming on Netflix.