Horrible

Rating: 1/10 (7 August 2002)

I rank this movie as one of the most awful things I have ever seen. Not only is it totally unbelievable, but the situations are so unpleasent, so cloying, so awful, that its more like a nightmare that just won't end. And when I say "won't end," I mean it. This movie drags on way past the comfort level. It keeps going from one improbable situation to another, linked by flashy chase scenes, until you're begging for some kind of resolution.
The acting of Nick Cage and John Travolta are just about what you would expect -- that is to say totally over-the-top. Chewing on the scenery is a polite term for what they do.
As for the talents of John Woo, well I've heard all about his "violence as opera" philosophy of film-making, but I just don't buy it. Every movie I've seen of his isn't scary, or exciting, or shocking -- its uncomfortable, like sitting on a sharp spike.
I saw this movie years ago in the theatre, but it still sticks with me -- I guess that should say something about its power, but years ago, I saw a dead deer sitting by the side of the road. It was rotting in the heat, its muscles had contracted, it smelled awful and it looked alot like a mummy -- that experience stuck with me too. Seeing "Face/Off" was alot like seeing that deer: unpleasent, nauseating, and unnecessary.