Action All The Way

Rating: 8/10 (7 August 2017)

The changing faces of good and evil add some extra layers of fun, mayhem and confusion to this exciting John Woo blockbuster which could best be described as "action all the way". Its plot anticipates a time when face transplants are able to be carried out quickly and easily without leaving unsightly scars and uses this premise to put a different spin on the long-established film noir preoccupation with issues of identity. It's also a story about obsession and revenge but overall its main focus is its numerous action sequences which are so skilfully conceived and perfectly executed that they elevate its various chases, shootouts and explosions etc. to a far higher level of excellence than can be seen in most films of this type.
Since he was injured and his 5-year old son was killed when a terrorist called Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) tried to assassinate him six years ago, FBI Agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) has been obsessed with capturing his nemesis and bringing him to justice. The opportunity to do so arises when Sean and some members of his anti-terrorist team catch up with Castor and his brother Pollux (Alessandro Nivola) at Los Angeles International Airport. A chase follows which ends with Castor being apprehended and transferred to a high-security hospital where he remains in a coma with no expectation that he'll ever recover. When it comes to light that, shortly before being caught, Castor had planted a bomb with a nerve gas and biological payload that was powerful enough to flatten a square mile of L.A., urgent action becomes necessary to deal with the threat.
As Pollux Troy is the only person (other than the comatose Castor) who knows where the bomb is and wouldn't be prepared to discuss the information with anyone other than his brother, a special ops officer comes up with a proposal for Sean to go through a radical surgical procedure which would involve transplanting Castor's face onto Sean's skull so that, posing as Castor, Sean could elicit the information he needs from Pollux. Feeling that he has no real choice in the matter, Sean goes ahead with the surgery and looking identical to Castor is transferred to Erewhon Prison where he makes contact with Pollux and gets the information he needs.
A serious problem arises however, when Castor unexpectedly regains consciousness and with the help of some of his gang members, forces Sean's doctor to transplant Sean's face onto his own skull before proceeding to kill the doctor and every one of the small team who knew about Sean's top secret mission. Castor (looking like Sean) then goes on to exploit his new appearance by posing as Sean at his workplace and in his home whilst Sean is left in a tight spot until he starts a riot and escapes from prison so that he can hunt down Castor Troy one last time.
One of the major benefits of this movie's far-fetched plot is that it affords John Travolta and Nicolas Cage the opportunities to turn in a couple of great performances because as well as their action work, they both do brilliantly at establishing their own characters before going on to adopt each other's characteristics, in order to make their identity swaps seem credible. The fact that they both meet the demands of their roles so comprehensively, whilst also appearing to have such a lot of fun in the process, makes their contributions both tremendously accomplished and highly entertaining to watch.
Sean Archer's quest for revenge took over his life for 6 years during which all his important relationships suffered and Joan Allen and Dominique Swain give a couple of fine supporting performances as his long-suffering wife and daughter.
"Face/Off" begins brightly with some breathtaking action that includes an assassination attempt, a game of chicken (involving a helicopter and a plane) and a spectacular crash (when a plane flies into a hangar) and all of this takes place so rapidly and amongst various chases and bursts of gunfire, that it's impossible not to be impressed. Numerous other action sequences such as the tense prison escape, an astonishing shootout at Castor Troy's headquarters and the speedboat chase that provides the movie with its finale, are also highly impressive. "Face/Off" is a lot of fun and deserves recognition for its exhilarating action, its technical brilliance and the entertaining way in which it succeeds in doing exactly what it set out to do.