Tournament of Champions

Zoey and Ben have escaped the deadly escape rooms of Minos, but Zoey can't put her experiences behind her. She wants revenge and travels to New York with Ben to follow a lead, only to end up back in a new game. Along for the ride are other winners from previous rounds, so now it's a Tournament of Champions. Equipped with a lightning-quick perception, the participants fight their way through the various puzzles in the rooms until Zoey is confronted with a terrible truth at the end.

Escape Room: Tournament of Champions picks up directly from its predecessor. Zoey and Ben, after finding a clue at the end of the first part, travel to Manhattan to unsurprisingly for the viewer end up back in a new game of escape rooms. The familiar pattern of cryptic puzzles follows, which the participants figure out surprisingly quickly. If the viewer even tries to understand what the puzzle could be, Zoey and her companions are already two steps further. This is entertaining for puzzle fans, but the frame story around the escape rooms is thin. Apart from Zoey and Ben, the remaining participants remain bland and it quickly becomes clear that they only serve as cannon fodder for the individual rooms.

Extended Version with Alternate Beginning and End

On the US Blu-ray, there is an Extended Version in addition to the familiar Theatrical Version. The title is somewhat inappropriately chosen, as the version runs just under 7 minutes longer, but contains a completely new frame story. Rather, it is therefore an alternative version.

The Theatrical Version begins with Zoey seeing a psychiatrist who convinces her to overcome her fears and travel to New York. After Zoey survives the acid rain escape room, she ends up in a new room designed like Sonya's nursery. There she meets Amanda, who is still alive. She tells her that her daughter Sonya was kidnapped by Minos, forcing her to design the escape rooms. Zoey is to become the next Game Master or Ben will be killed. Zoey will not accept this and she manages to escape with Amanda and Ben. Minos is unmasked, but when Zoey flies back she realizes that everything is not over yet.

In the extended version, we learn at the beginning that the Puzzle Maker's wife wants to break up with him. To prevent this, he kills his wife by means of an escape room. He locks up his daughter Claire so that she can develop new escape rooms for him. In the end, Zoey is brought to Claire, who needs her intellect to escape from her prison. Sonya is the name of Claire's mother. This succeeds and they are also able to save Ben. Claire notifies the police and blows Minos' cover. Then it becomes clear that Claire wants to take revenge on her father and henceforth inherit his legacy.

In the Theatrical Version and Extended Version, you can choose if the storyline is more about Zoey or the Game Master. The Theatrical Version seems rather generic with its ending, but at least it gives us an appearance by Amanda Harper. The extended version at least provides a small glimpse behind the scenes. Both versions have their justification, so everyone can decide for themselves what appeals to them more.

Runtimes:

Theatrical Version: 88:03 min.
Extended Version: 95:45 Min.

Comparison between the Theatrical Version and the Extended Version.

[00:02:40][00:02:40]

Immediately after the recap of the first part, the Theatrical Version and the Extended differ.

Theatrical Version:

Zoey sits with a psychiatrist and tells her how she is plagued by horrible experiences from the escape room. In all the chaos, she has found some peace with Amanda, whom she told about the plane crash. Amanda told her about her daughter. The psychiatrist says Amanda was a good friend. Zoey agrees, but says saddened that she was killed by Minos. Zoey says that the psychiatrist doesn't believe her and thinks she is crazy. The psychiatrist says that to a hammer, everything looks like a nail. She says that Zoey is so deep in the gaming world that everything looks like a clue to her. The alarm clock rings, ending the time. The psychiatrist says that her job is not to believe her, but to help her. She asks Zoey what is necessary to get rid of it. The psychiatrist talks about Zoey's fear of traveling to New York with Ben. Zoey says that she first needs to be sure that she will never end up in a game again.

After their meeting, she meets with Ben and says that they should go to New York. Zoey wants to gather more evidence that way. Ben, while happy not to have to worry about his life lately, joins her.

Extended:

In 2003, a car pulls up in front of a mansion. A mother tells her daughter Claire to go to bed. She can't see her father Henry because he is still at work.

The woman goes to Henry, who is designing an escape room. He tells her that he doesn't have time because he has a deadline to meet. She tells him that she can no longer do this as it will be at Claire's expense. Henry accuses her of destroying the family. The woman says that is already the case. Henry says that he needs another hour to finish his work, then the two can talk. The woman agrees and goes for a swim in the pool. Claire, meanwhile, combs her hair in her room.

The woman gets out of the pool, relaxed. Henry watched her as she did so.

Claire places various items, such as a seashell or an umbrella in a suitcase.

The woman walks into a sauna. All of a sudden, the door is locked. Over the intercom, she asks Henry to stop and apologizes. Through the steam, a puzzle forms on the door about something that shrinks in water and survives in fire. The woman comes upon a stone and finds a bright stone in the infusion pool. In the stone is hidden a magnet with which the lock can be opened. While the woman tries to open the door, the temperature continues to rise. Before the woman can push back the last latch, she sinks to the floor and dies.

Today, the man has developed the escape room on the plane. His mysterious client is satisfied.

Zoey and Ben are sitting at the airport. Ben says to Zoey that everything is open to them and they could do something else. Zoey says that this is what she needs to do. Ben follows her and comments that they are flying right into danger.

Henry asks Ensler how his daughter is doing. Ensler says that she is very focused. Henry goes to her in the room and says that this time the stakes are very high. Claire asks what difference it would make since she is locked in this cage anyway. It becomes clear that Claire is locked behind a glass window. Claire says that Henry is obsessed with killing Zoey even though she is not ready. Henry says that Zoey wants to make him public. Claire understands Zoey since she also lost her mother. Henry pauses for a moment and then leaves the room.

At the check-in, Zoey has concerns about the flight. She sees her mother and says she can't fly. Zoey runs back. Ben follows her.

Ben has rented a car. Zoey asks him if he really wants to do this. Ben confesses to her that he lost his job because he had a panic attack in front of a client.

The next shot starts earlier.

Theatrical Version: 4:26.18 min.
Ext: 14:21.02 min.

[00:07:18][00:17:12]

In the Theatrical Version, Ben adds during the car ride that he feels indebted to the people who saved his life. Zoey thanks him.

Theatrical Version: 9.23 secs.


[01:07:02][01:16:47]

After Zoey falls through the trapdoor in the cab, the two versions differ until the end.

Theatrical Version:

Zoey lands in an attic room with various toys. Letter blocks were used to lay out the name Sonya. In a chest, she finds her diary. There she finds the same sentence that Amanda told her. Surprisingly, Amanda falls out of a closet and confesses that she survived the fall and her daughter Sonya was kidnapped. Amanda was forced to design the escape rooms that she had no other choice. Zoey is also supposed to design escape rooms for Minos. Zoey says she would never do such a thing, then suddenly Ben appears from behind a glass wall. When Zoey designs the next game, Ben stays alive. A toy train stops in front of Zoey with a card with her name on it. Zoey tears up the card. Water begins to pour into the room where Ben is. Without success, Zoey tries to break the window. Ben says that Minos must not win at any cost.

Zoey and Amanda pull a gas line and point it at the room with Ben. Zoey throws a lighter at the gas line, causing the room to burst into flames. The glass of Ben's room shatters and water pours into the room. At one point, the water drains away. Amanda, Ben and Zoey tear the wooden beams from the wall and are able to escape. They find themselves in a huge hall from which they flee upwards. They manage to escape.

At a police station, Zoey watches a report about the discovery of deadly escape rooms. Ben comes up to her and says that Amanda told the police everything. An FBI agent tells her that they've discovered lots of data and it's going to be a big case. He gives Zoey back her compass that was found by the FBI. Ben and Zoey fall into each other's arms. Ben says that now everything is over and they can go back to a normal life. Zoey asks Ben to fly back with her.

Zoey and Ben are on board of a plane. She thanks him for coming along. Zoey wonders that maybe everything was too easy. Ben doesn't think so. Zoey goes to the bathroom and suddenly hears the ringtone from her psychiatrist. She goes to see a woman who looks like her psychiatrist. All of a sudden, Zoey realizes that she is still in the game. The gas masks drop and a voice comes on, thanking her for flying with Minos Air.

The credits follow.

Extended:

A developer notes that there has been a mistake. Henry joins and wonders about the design of the last room. He says that compression via a USB stick has occurred. When the technician wants to report the incident, Henry says that they will finish the game at any cost.

Enders took Zoey to Claire's room. Zoey slowly regains consciousness. Zoey realizes that the clues from the escape rooms were from Claire as she sees the cover in front of her. In Sonya's case, it is her mother. Zoey realizes that Claire designed the escape rooms. Claire tells her that Ben is alive because she designed a secret passage. She shows Ben on a screen, who is suddenly grabbed by men and thrown into the last room.

Claire needs Zoey's help to solve a picture puzzle with which she can escape from her prison. Zoey realizes that the puzzles don't make sense. She says that they need to change the way she looks at them. She stands in a corner and discovers hidden clues. Meanwhile, Ben tries to escape from his escape room. Zoey and Claire manage to discover the code.

As she is about to leave, Enders runs into her, falling to the ground with a bloody wound. Henry appears and points a gun at Claire. Henry is furious, but is shot by Enders. Claire seizes the moment and locks Henry in the cell.

Claire and Zoey run to the office to help Ben. They manage to stop the program to save Ben. Zoey wants to go to Ben's house. Claire tells her that she wants to go to the police to turn Minos in. Zoey drives away.

Arrests are made. Zoey drives to the warehouse, which is already cordoned off by the police, and meets the injured Ben, who is being taken to an ambulance. Ben tells her that he got the compass from a man. He gives it to Zoey. Zoey says that it is over now. She gets into the ambulance with Ben.

Claire goes to see her father. It becomes clear that she designed all the rooms, including the room where her mother died. This served as revenge against her mother for wanting to send her to therapy. Henry says that he and Claire could be a team. Claire says that they can be proud of what she accomplishes. She says goodbye to her father.

The credits follow.

Theatrical Version: 21:01.08 min.
Ext: 18:59.09 min.