A cracking over the top action/thriller that is still enjoyable almost 20 years later.

Rating: 9/10 (8 August 2016)

Face/Off utilizes a very original story that is made even more enjoyable with over the top action and crackling one liners. John Travolta and Nicolas Cage make a great pairing as the respective hero and villain who both share the role throughout the movie. Director John Woo who is well known for his non-stop kinetic action sequences has done an excellent job with one of the biggest mega blockbusters of 1997.
The movie starts with freelance terrorist Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) attempting to assassinate FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta). Though Sean survives the gunshot, his son Michael is accidentally killed. Six years later, the grief stricken Sean Archer has dedicated everything to take down his sworn enemy Castor Troy. Following a breakthrough in which the FBI and the LAPD converge on the Los Angeles International Airport to intercept Castor Troy and his brother Pollux, a gunfight ensues which sees a number of FBI agents killed, Pollux arrested, and Castor knocked into a coma but not before taunting Sean that he has a bomb somewhere that will wipe out all of Los Angeles. At the urging of his partner Tito Biondi (Robert Wisdom), Archer secretly undergoes a highly experimental face transplant procedure by Dr. Malcolm Walsh (Colm Feore) and Dr. Miller (C.C.H Pounder) to take on Castor's face and appearance including a special voice box to sound like his arch enemy. Sean/Castor is taken undercover to a maximum security prison to obtain the location of the whereabouts of the bomb from his brother Pollux who is also in the same prison. The mission appears to go smoothly until Castor Troy awakens from his coma and adopts Sean Archer's face and appearance. Unbeknownst to Sean's long suffering wife Eve (Joan Allen) and his rebellious daughter Jamie (Dominique Swain), Castor/Sean integrates himself into their lives and his FBI colleagues who now see him as a public hero are none the wiser. Sean/Castor must fight his way to take down Castor/Sean once and for all and to regain his own identity back.
John Travolta and Nicolas Cage are both brilliantly cast as the hero and villain who both adopt each other's identities. You can tell the difference between the intense Sean Archer and the flamboyant Castor Troy and when the roles are reversed.
John Woo who made his mark in Hong Kong with action classics such as The Killer (1989) and Hard Boiled (1992) and exploded onto the Hollywood scene with Hard Target (1993) continues to trail blaze through Hollywood with this mega hit.
It's hard to believe that Face/Off is almost 20 years old but like a fine wine, this over the top action/thriller is still an enjoyable classic over time and to this day is still recognised as one of the finest action movies of the 90's.
9/10.