Director: John Woo
Writers: Mike Werb
Michael Colleary
Oh my gosh, I love this film. It's such a cheesy ball of 90's clichéd action fluff. One of my top 10 favourite films. It's clichéd and ever so quotable and it's got the absolute best concept of any film ever. Over actor John Travolta has to overact like over actor Nicolas Cage and over actor Nicolas Cage has to act like over actor John Travolta. What a concept. Why don't films do this more often? I don't know what combination could be better, maybe Amy Schumer and someone who's actually funny and doesn't just talk about their sex life for comedy? Nah probably wouldn't work that would mean she'd have to be funny in the first place.
Now I don't know what to talk about here because...I've already talked about the absolute best thing about this film, do I talk about the negatives? Of course I do. The biggest problem with this film? The whole operation is a "black bag" operation meaning that it's strictly off the books and nobody is going to know about it aside from the doctors involved. Not his boss and not his wife. Nobody. Not even people at the super top security prison. This could easily lead to a problem yes? Seems like nobody thought there could be any sort of issue with this fool proof super secret plan. Not like Travolta as Cage could go into this prison and...shit I don't know, maybe get beaten to a point it could be fatal. Maybe the people involved in this could be called away on business, or sick, or dead and nobody could collect Travolta as Cage as it was scheduled. You see, I feel like this entire thing could have been avoided if someone had informed someone at the prison, or Travolta's higher up's or even his wife like...if she knew about this she could pick up on Travolta's weird behaviour earlier and the majority of this could have been avoided. However, saying that it could have been avoided, why would anyone want it to be? I mean, yeah, being in the situation would be really shit but then for a viewer...it's pretty fun.
The effects in this film are incredible. They really are, it's a good mix of CGI and practical effects and the CGI is pretty rare, you done good effects department, you done good. If this was made today then I guess that a lot of it would be CG explosions done by Michael Bay but here, the explosions are fireworks really, you know those crap ones you buy yourself for bonfire night? Yeah those ones, yet they're more impactful because they're really there. What adds to the effects is the amount of research Cage and Travolta did. Both into their characters and each others acting methods. It's really impressive to watch from an actor's standpoint. The level of effort and delicate care that went into these performances is so high and I don't think I'll see it again anytime soon.
By the way, don't get me wrong on this. This might be an explosive, big, action dick-flick, which is a chick flick but...for guys so it's a dick-flick. Despite that, there's a genuinely emotional scene towards the start of the third act. During a massive fight scene, Sean Archer as Castor Troy (Travolta as Cage) knocks Pollux Troy (Alessandro Nivola) from his high vantage point and to his death around a 5 story fall through glass. On the surface, given how much time the Troy brothers spent together on screen you shouldn't feel anything for the death of the younger and yet...it's truly heartbreaking to watch. There's enough exposition given in their first few lines and it fills you in on enough of their past to show you their bond. Hell, Castor even ties his younger brothers laces, both in the beginning and once Pollux is dead. It genuinely breaks my heart and I cry every single time I watch it.
I really do love this film, this is so much fun to watch and I can't believe I barely know anyone who's seen it. Then again I have like....what...4 friends? If that so it's not all that surprising. I really do recommend you watch this, though, even if it's just to watch the acting marvel that is two over actors playing each other. It's so magnificent, everyone enjoys what they're doing, they're all just having such a fucking ball that despite the absolutely huge plot hole in this, you enjoy it all the same. Highly recommend it.
This is just my opinion and if you disagree then that's great, I'm open to discussion and I'm always interested to hear how you feel about this film. This is also a critique which is considered "Fair Use" under the Copyright Act 1976. If you like this film then go and support its creators by buying the DVD or Bluray
No comments:
Post a Comment