Product placement is inevitable, and there’s a right way to do it. The right way makes it subtle, and though you see logos on cars or Dell computers it feels logical to what’s going on in the scene. Then there are movies like TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION that literally throw cans of Bud Light and Red Bull in your face as if to say “The robots are coming, so I better get jacked with a Red Bull!” Neill Blomkamp’s new short film, THE ESCAPE, falls into the former category.
Involving a hired, nameless driver (Clive Owen) saving a mysterious young woman, Lily (Dakota Fanning), from a scary group of men led by Holt (Jon Bernthal), the movie was made in association with BMW Films, but other than the occasional flash of the BMW logo nothing feels forced down your throat. Having the logo in the corner of the screen is enough, allowing for Blomkamp's vision to prevail, making for a fast-paced, action-packed short that has enough goods for a feature-length film.
Watch Owen rock the business below!
Doing as much as he could with so little, the movie is undeniably engaging with enough mystery involved to create something bigger if Blomkamp ever wanted to do a full-length feature. The Driver (Owen) is more interesting than other drivers-for-hire, like Jason Statham in THE TRANSPORTER movies, plus the inclusion of Fanning's character as some sort of clone or android lends a sci-fi element to it all, which is right up Blomkamp's alley. The action is slick, the characters are curious, and I wanna see more of all of it…but I still don't wanna buy a BMW. Take that, corporate America!
Check out more two behind-the-scenes features below!