Audiences seeking disposable summertime entertainment will find it certainly meets basic expectations, further amping up the unoriginal original’s hectic, video game-like PG-13 thrills.
This follow-up immediately announces itself as aiming no higher than strict franchise “more of the same”-ness, beginning with a recap of prior events and ending with a de facto kickoff for No. Ergo “Escape Room: Tournament of Champions,” which brings back the first edition’s director, surviving characters and other elements in another primarily South Africa-shot U.S. The only one of several same-titled movies in recent years to make a significant commercial dent, Adam Robitel’s 2019 “Escape Room” proved a considerable sleeper hit, making back many times its modest $9 million budget.
