Sunday, March 19, 2017

Alex's #97: Face/Off


My next movie is Face/Off. It was directed by John Woo, and it starred John Travolta, Nicholas Cage, Joan Allen, and Alessandro Nivola. This was another one of those awesome 90's action movies that just sucked me right in. It was Travolta vs Cage, the hottest actors back then.

What makes this movie so cool is you get to see both actors play a good guy and a bad guy. In the beginning of the film you see Cage portray this crazy, homicidal terrorist who needs to be stopped, and then you see Travolta as the good guy F.B.I. agent who wants to stop him. After they stop Castor Troy (Cage) they decide to undergo a secret procedure where they remove his face and swap it with Sean Archer (Travolta). The reasoning behind this is to go undercover as Castor Troy and get more information out of Troy's brother, played by Alessandro Nivola. Of course, everything doesn't go to plan. Does it ever? The original Castor Troy wakes up from his coma and forces the doctor's to put Sean Archer's face on his and then he kills everyone involved. Without going any further, I feel that's where the story really grabs your attention and you really start to enjoy the movie.

The first time I saw this movie I thought it was one of the greatest action films ever. It was just so stylish and different and exciting to watch. Seeing two big icons from the 90's going at it was pretty sweet. It'll always remain a favorite of mine.

Things that I'll remember from this movie are the action sequences, wow, they were pretty incredible and very enjoyable to see. The story because it's very original and totally captures your attention. All the characters in the movie, good and bad, are very likable. Also, the acting performances from Travolta and Cage are very memorable and very enjoyable.

This movie has action, tragedy, revenge, remorse, and again great performances from Travolta and Cage. So if you haven't checked it out, give it a shot.

On a side note, this movie did receive an Oscar nomination for Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing. It went up against Titanic, and The Fifth Element. I'm sure you can guess which one won the award.

2 comments:

  1. I had a lot of fun re-watching this one (my first re-watch of it since its initial release).

    My only complaint is that at 2h20m, the film has some bloat to it. It might be in my Top 100 if it were a trimmer, slimmer actioner. As it is, it's great when it's great and some sections drag. Overall, it's all goofy fun.

    ReplyDelete
  2. See I don't mind long movies as long as the story is good and it doesn't drag. Sure this movie could've been an easy 1hr 55min-2hr movie but I didn't mind the extra baggage haha. Gotta love Travolta and Cage...maybe that's why it was tolerable

    ReplyDelete