In order to catch him, he must become him.

Rating: Null/10 (5 February 2002)

I remember the first time I watched Face/Off, and boy did it blow me away. I have always had a lot respect for John Travolta as an actor, but this movie made me sit up and take notice not only of Travolta, but Nicolas Cage and the director, John Woo. Face/Off is undoubtedly one of Hollywood's greatest action movies ever made.
Face/Off Â… the ultimate game of cat and mouse. To avenge the senseless murder of his son, FBI agent Sean Archer undergoes radical new surgery allowing him to switch faces with the comatose terrorist Castor Troy and assume his identity. But when Castor awakes and assumes Sean's identity, the real Sean is thrust into an unimaginable nightmare, fighting not only for his life but also those of his wife and daughter!
Well what do you say about this movie? It is a blast. Action from start to finish. I disagree that the storyline is silly, considering the way the audience is taken on such a great ride with both Castor Troy and Sean Archer. I thought the script was very well written by Mike Werb and Michael Colleary. Then you have the touches put in by director John Woo. Woo is a fine director, with this being one of his best films. His other movies include Broken Arrow, Hard Target and Blackjack. He also directed a very disappointing sequel, that being Mission: Impossible II. That film was rather boring for the most part and only started to heat up at the end. Anyway Woo did a brilliant job on Face/Off.
The main stars are Hollywood legends. John Travolta and Nicolas Cage take on both roles as Sean Archer/Castor Troy. Both make the most of being two different characters. The way they act in this movie, they make you believe that the two have really traded places. It is difficult to say who was the better of the two in this film, because they both did a great job.

Cage has had a great career. Of course winning an Oscar for his terrific role in the film Leaving Los Vegas, in addition to the big hits like The Rock, Con Air, City Of Angels, Gone In Sixty Seconds and The Family Man. These were all great movies. Travolta is probably Hollywood's most well-known actor. A strong member of the church of scientology, he has done some great films as well. These include Grease (who will ever forget that film?), The Look Whose Talking series, the popular Pulp Fiction, which put him back on the movie map, Broken Arrow and his latest hit Swordfish, alongside Hollywood's newest star Hugh Jackman. Travolta has done some bad films, none more bad than the science-fiction movie, Battlefield Earth, which was a real flop.
There are some other good cast members in Face/Off. They include Gina Gershon, who plays Castor's partner of sorts, Sasha Hassler. Then you have Joan Allen who plays Sean Archer's wife, Dr Eve Archer. Dominique Swain is good in her role as the rebellious teenage daughter of the Archer's, Jamie. Finally the role of Castor's brother, Pollax Troy, was well performed by Alessandro Nivola. He was great in the movie, Best Laid Plans.
There are some powerful scenes in this movie. None more so, than the scene where we see the two arch enemies looking at themselves in the mirror, about to try and shoot each other to death. Then of course you have the surgery scene where we see them actually taking off the character's faces. This scene looks so real, that you would believe the surgery really did take place. The action scenes in Face/Off are all great, with the final boat chase, breathless.
It is known that they are starting to perform surgery like what was acted in this movie, for real, which is amazing. I am going to stick my neck out here and say that Face/Off is my favourite film of all-time. Now some people might think that is weird, but this film is terrific. If you like a bit of action, thrown in with a bit of intrigue and suspense then this film is for you. Face/Off is summed up beautifully by Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle who wrote:
`In ``Face/Off,'' a principled FBI agent and a psychotic terrorist switch faces. Switching faces means the two actors -- John Travolta and Nicolas Cage -- have to switch roles. But more than switch roles, they switch styles. Travolta adopts Cage's abrupt gestures and crazy laugh; Cage amazingly embodies Travolta's soulfulness'.
That is spot on. So if you want to see one great action films of our time, sit back, relax and watch Face/Off. It's like looking in a mirror. Only... not!
Rating: 5 Stars or 10/10