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FILM REVIEWFilm And
T.V. Reviews Film Review Face Off On VHS Staring:
John Travolta, Nicholas Cage Director:
John Woo Hotshot FBI
agent Sean Archer, played, but not well, by John Travolta, undergoes radical
surgery to remove his face and replace it with the face of psychotic terrorist
Castor Troy, played by Nicholas Cage, who is in a coma after being caught in a
shoot out. What a good idea I hear you say, if you were stuck with Travolta's
face, with its "ridiculous chin" wouldn't you do anything to replace
it with a less aesthetically challenged visage. I think so. But, to be honest,
that's not really why Travolta allows himself to have his face removed and
reconstructed so he can pass as Cage. The idea is that he will now be able to
impersonate him so that Cage's jailed brother will open up to him and tell him
the whereabouts of a biological bomb that could destroy Los Angeles. Unfortunately
Cage comes out of his coma and escapes, forcing the surgical team to give him
Travolta's face, and then kills everyone who knew about the identity swap and
sets about taking over Archer's life, family and job, leaving the undercover
agent in prison with a Cage's face and a desire for revenge ... which he finally
gets. I've taken
some time to outline the plot because it is so confusing, and has more holes
than a golf course. In fact, it would be hard to think up anything more stupid
and even harder to make it believable and, luckily, director John Woo doesn't
even try to. Instead, he
settles for doing what he does best, which is staging very exciting action and
then lets the daft story run its course. The pulse
pounding opening scene in which cars and a helicopter race across an airport to
stop the plane carrying Cage and his brother from taking off is a real blinder.
There are lots of amazing, shoot outs whose masses of ammo make World War Two
resemble a picnic and there's a stunning speedboat chase, finished off with
amazing explosions and hand to hand combat between Travolta and Cage or, should
I say, between their stunt doubles. Considering Travolta's idea of a performance
is posing pokily, it may have been a good idea if Woo had let him to do his own
stunts and got an acting double to do the dramatic scenes. If Travolta
or Cage could have shot straight, Face Off would have been over after the first
few scenes, as it's one of those unbelievable thrillers where thousands of
bullets litter the scenery and puncture dozens of extras its amazing the stars
don't get killed. Still, if
all you want are violent, trigger happy, brainless thrills and action, Woo and
company definitely deliver what you want. Rating: 3
stars Simon Owen
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