Face/Off [MA]

Six years ago, during an assassination attempt that went amiss, FBI agent Sean Archer’s son was killed. For the last six years, Sean has been hell-bent on bringing the perpetrator, terrorist Castor Troy, to justice. But when he finally does it transpires that Castor is the only person who can get information from his brother as to where a bomb is hidden in LA. In order to get the facts, Sean embarks upon a dangerous covert operation involving major surgery to have his face removed and the face of the comatose Castor Troy put on. The operation goes smoothly until the real Castor Troy wakes up from his coma and forces the surgeons to replace his missing face with Sean’s and he assumes Sean’s identity. For Sean, an unimaginable nightmare now becomes real as he’s not only fighting for his life, but that of his wife and daughter’s who are now in the arms of Castor Troy. 

Holey rusted metal Batman, this movie is FREAKING AWESOME! How have I gone this long without seeing it?! It’s absolutely jam-packed with kick-arse action, mind-blowing explosions, sinister sexual tension, emotional drama, and a bloody genius story to boot! It’s fan-fucking-tastic! 

Six years ago, during an assassination attempt that went amiss, FBI agent Sean Archer’s son was killed. For the last six years, Sean has been hell-bent on bringing the perpetrator, terrorist Castor Troy, to justice. But when he finally does it transpires that Castor is the only person who can get information from his brother as to where a bomb is hidden in LA. In order to get the facts, Sean embarks upon a dangerous covert operation involving major surgery to have his face removed and the face of the comatose Castor Troy put on. The operation goes smoothly until the real Castor Troy wakes up from his coma and forces the surgeons to replace his missing face with Sean’s and he assumes Sean’s identity. For Sean, an unimaginable nightmare now becomes real as he’s not only fighting for his life, but that of his wife and daughter’s who are now in the arms of Castor Troy. 

Director John Woo is really in his element when it comes to doing these sorts of action/thrillers. His action sequences, characteristically slowed down to heighten tension and increase adrenaline, are always mesmerising as we saw in Mission Impossible 2. The mixture of shoot-outs, explosions, speedboat chases, it’s all one big adrenaline-pinching dream that you don’t want to wake up from. 

The story itself is brilliant! It’s eccentric and confusing just enough that you can sort of keep up with it. Never anywhere do you find yourself getting lost or largely confused, you just need to keep reminding yourself that Travolta is Cage and Cage is Travolta. Brilliant! 

Our leading men both deliver excellent performances with John Travolta being very one-track minded and reserved and Nicholas Cage being delightfully manic: sexually sinister one moment and then laughing hysterically the next. 

Starring Joan Allen, Alessandro Nivola, Gina Gershon, Dominique Swain, Nick Cassavetes, Colm Feore, Margaret Cho, CCH Pounder, Robert Wisdom, and Harve Presnell, Face/Off is a brilliant movie packed with mind-blowing action, explosions, chases, and drama. It’s a brilliant game of cat-and-mouse that I’d highly recommend you all engage in!