Review of Face/Off

Magic Mirror on the wall, is this in your face action movie, the fairest one of all? Not really. Most of the time, I was laughing my face off due to the tongue-in-cheek action. Not to be confused with the series Face/Off, a makeup-F/X reality competition on the SyFy Channel. The movie, Face/Off is more like brain off, pay off film. Directed by John Woo, the silly premise movie tells the story of an FBI agent, Sean Archer (John Travolta) who goes undercover and assumes the identity of a ruthless terrorist, Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) to foil a terrorist bomb threat. Soon, the plan backfires when the same criminal impersonates the cop with the same method, a face-transplant surgery. Now, it's up to Archer to prove that, he's the real Archer, and stop Castor from stealing his life. Without spoiling the movie too much, the film is full of director Woo's signature tiresome clichés like the overused of doves and over the top Gun Fu action sequences. It's nice to see Travolta and Cage each playing two different personalities, making both actors the protagonists and antagonists. In my opinion Nicolas Cage's acting is better than John Travolta's acting in this. Cage's gotten a lot of credit as a pretty good actor in a lot of good films in the past. But with the birth of the internet, people started to notice compilation videos of Cage's acting that showcased a certain craziness. Travolta's not so much. In this film, Cage goes total insane in certain scenes. The acting from these two was a bit over the top, but it's one of the charms of the film. The female characters are some of the worst written. Joan Allen as Archer's wife, Eve is just awful. She supposed to be a doctor, but she can't tell that Archer been replaced by somebody else. She's the wife, I would think she would know, every detail of her husband's body. She needed to do a blood test, just to prove that it isn't him. Honestly, how did Troy not notice that a needle's been stuck in him for a blood test? Does he not feel pain? Anyways, she discovers the truth, and waits forever to tell people about it, causing more death and mayhem. Not the best written character. There are bits in the movie that makes you scratch your head, puzzling, like how is Castor Troy, hard to find. He supposed to be the most secretive terrorist ever, yet he has a personal jet, nice suits and expensive rent-a-car. Another WTF moment is church choir scene at the LA Convention Center. Why are they there, and how did Castor Troy got away with groping with one of the choir girls, while wearing a priest outfit? So, he's OK about groping this choir girl, but help beat up Archer's daughter's boyfriend when he became a bit, too touchy toward Jamie (Dominique Swain). That doesn't make sense!? Also, didn't Troy earlier in the film, say and threatened to rape Jamie to her father's face. That was a bit odd. I have to criticize the fact that the film makes the villain more likable than the protagonist. It's weird that the villain makes a better father than the real hero who is never there. The protagonist seem a little bit creepier than Troy to his own family. He has the nerves to adopt a boy that mirror his dead kid without his wife, knowing. Then he has that awkward hand rub to the face. It's disturbing. No wonder, why Jamie is so mess up. The movie really goes crazy in its Sci-fiction premise, despite the settling of the film being 1997. The face surgery is bit out there in science fiction land. Don't ask how the surgery is reversed for the hero, toward the end, despite the Walsh institute being burned down. It's never explained. I like how the Walsh institute has no security just in case, Castor Troy wake up. I'm not even kidding: They leave Castor Troy with little to no security watching him throughout the majority of the first part of the film. Talking about security. That maximum, high tech secret oil rig prison that Archer-as-Castor Troy is sent to, is so surreal. Reusing props like the electric shock therapy and magnetic boots from 1993's Super Mario Bros the movie! Come on! The action is a hit than a miss. There were very entertaining. I like the Mexican stand-off at the church, it was pretty cool. I like the Mexican stand-off at the church, it was pretty cool. The Gun Fu action really did work. Still, there were some misses, I like how the stunt doubles, don't look anything like the real actors, during some of the action scenes or how a person that clearly got shot in the neck, is able to speak, very well. For a very silly movie, there were a lot of good scenes. The opening scene is a good example of this, where Troy tries to shoot Archer but kills Archer's son instead. To this film's credit, this is a pretty dramatic and emotional scene. John Travolta was able to show more emotional range. It's seem that the movie was trying to go with bigger themes like Christ references. Another is brotherhood, using Greek mythology names. Castor and Pollux were twin brothers of Helen of Troy that form the Gemini constellation, which is on the opposite side of the night sky from Sagittarius the Archer. The music score was mostly alright. I like the main theme. I dislike the use of "Somewhere over the Rainbow" playing over a gunfight. It was a bit jarring. Overall: I acknowledges that the corniness is what makes the film so fun. Only John Woo and these two unique actors, Cage & Travolta could pull something this whacky off. Great movie to watch. Good popcorn film to escape reality in.