Ridiculous, over the top & clichéd

Rating: 6/10 (14 September 2015)

"Face/Off" stands as John Woo's best received Hollywood film and a minor action classic. The story concerns an FBI agent (John Travolta) who undergoes a surgical procedure to impersonate a notorious criminal (Nicolas Cage) in the hopes of thwarting a terror plot. Unfortunately for him, the tables are turned when said criminal then impersonates him and kills all who are aware of his transformation.
The far-fetched premise is an easy target for detractors of the movie but I don't think it's too bad in and of itself. For me, the thing that sinks the movie is that this is only one in a long series of unlikely and sometimes logic-defying situations cooked up by the screenwriters. Fans say that the movie isn't meant to be taken seriously but I disagree; the movie sometimes tries to be serious and is all the more laughable because of it.
When it comes to the leads, Travolta & Cage let loose with some of the most over the top acting of their careers (which is saying something). While this can be entertaining to a certain degree, it's overdone to such an extent that the characters quickly become cartoonish. The supporting cast is actually pretty decent but, unfortunately, the script saddles everyone with hackneyed material.
Being a John Woo film, I was expecting at least some quality in the action scenes but even those seemed to be uninspired. His trademarks are in evidence throughout but the set-pieces are ultimately more style than substance. Woo's direction of the dramatic scenes is likewise glossy, sometimes distractingly so.
In the end, I expect that "Face/Off" is one of those 'love it or hate it' movies. I can't say that I absolutely hate it but I definitely don't think that it deserves the amount of praise that it gets. If you can look past (or embrace) the movie's many nonsensical elements and the rampant overacting you may well enjoy it.