Complete Ham-fisted effort

Rating: 5/10 (22 April 2008)

When John Woo burst onto the American movie-making scene, he was marked for greatness as a ground-breaking director. But to be honest, he has been found out. There are only so much slow-mo, doves flying and sterile action sequences a man can take - and Woo has run dry.
Van Damme's Hard Target was an introduction to Woo - with the poetic jumping and shooting uncountable bullets with two guns whilst twirling in the air. It was good - if you were twelve. Later - MI:2 - which is most definitely the most atrocious film Cruise has ever done (and yes I am including Far and Away in that). Woo just wasn't able to sustain one ounce of dramatic license in an incomprehensible sequence of events.
Somewhere in between lies Face/Off.
The premise is ridiculous in the extreme. Just listen to Cage / Travolta explaining it in the movie and you can almost hear the laughter off screen. The action scenes were okay - but just that - okay. Not great, not thrilling - just okay. For an action film - that is not a good sign. I gotta be honest here and say that the sugary sweet nature of the film's family tie-ins were so overblown and sickly - that I almost vomited. The final scene is especially nauseating.
Cage is maniacal at times and Travolta reasonably straight faced - but they cannot save this film. Plot is not a major influence on Woo and the way the film moves forward is ludicrous.
For me 5/10 .... and Gina Gershon bagged 3 of those points on her own...