Crazy Awesome

Rating: 10/10 (9 January 2014)

From what I've seen of John Woo's films, when he does action it's always over-the-top and insanely cool, and this is no exception. This may very well be the pinnacle of 90s action in terms of the pure, insane cheesiness and awesome action.
The plot has Sean Archer (John Travolta) hunting down dangerous criminal Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage), who six years earlier killed his son. After apprehending him, Archer finds out that there's still a bomb threat, and with time running out and with no other alternatives, he decides to undergo a crazy procedure that will allow him to wear Troy's face and masquerade as him to get the info from his brother. Things go awry when Troy wakes up and puts on Archer's face, stealing his life.
The film's greatest strength is the two leads, who convincingly play each other. It helps that both actors are pretty over-the-top to begin with, and it gets even better when you see Travolta doing the best Nicolas Cage impersonation you'll ever see.
The action is just as awesome as you'd expect from a John Woo film, with improbable explosions and guns with seemingly infinite ammo all around.
The biggest problem I had with the movie is that the lead-up to killing Troy-as-Archer is really, REALLY long. There's a Mexican standoff, a church shootout, a hostage scene, a boat chase, it goes on and on and on, though it does lead to an awesome explosion and unconvincing stunt doubles. Still, that's not too much of a big deal because the action doesn't stop, but it can be a bit tiring.
If you like crazy awesome action, crazy awesome actors, or just craziness and awesomeness in general, then this is the film for you!