Director: John Woo
Production Company: Touchstone Pictures/Permut Presentations
Country: USA
Year: 1997
John Woo had been an influential figure in action films for a good decade at least before Face/Off, making his name by defining the ‘gun-fu’ sub-genre with films such as A Better Tomorrow and Hard-Boiled in his native Hong Kong. He’d done a few films for Hollywood, but this was his big, ‘do-it-your-own-way-to-the-max’ film, and boy, does he do it in style.
In a strange way, it feels much like a big-budget, slightly-changed version of Dean Koontz’s Mr Murder, playing on the fear of identity stealing, the imitation narrative, that who you are sleeping with isn’t really who they say they are. With John Travolta’s Sean Archer chasing down notorious criminal Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) who killed his son several years before, Cage has planted a bomb but won’t say where. In a bid to get close to his brother in prison, who might know the bomb’s location, Archer physically swaps faces with Troy, going in disguise to get the information. But Troy, who had been in a coma, wakes up, steals Archer’s face, and now it’s a big shoot-out cat-and-mouse to see who can outsmart who, and get revenge most.
The reason this film was made was to have two standout performances by two giants of American cinema. Quite frankly, they deliver in spades. Having to give multiple layers to their performances by definition of the script, both Travolta and Cage are given the chance to show off their acting prowess, and every second is a delight. Aided by Woo’s deft direction, here at the height of his powers, with doves flying and multi-angle explosions aplenty, they bring to life two larger-than-life characters, two complete opposite ends of the spectrum, both having to portray each of them at various points of the story. That they can do this so well is a testament to their abilities.
The film manages somehow to keep itself with an emotional hook, somehow working the age-old theme of fatherhood and familial protection into this revenge story without it feeling incredibly cliched. Or, too cliched, at the very least. A particular moment near the end of the film, where Troy (with Archer’s face on) licks Archer’s daughter’s face (played by Dominique Swain) gives such a moment of repulsion and disgust, reminding one of the infamous ‘Come to daddy’ line from Hellraiser. That the film thankfully takes the time to bring something personal and emotional (be it delight, despair, or disgust) to all the sparks and explosions helps ground the film’s ridiculous premise in something real and tangible.
And yet, at the end of all that, it’s still a fun, overblown action film. There’s still the 90’s aesthetic of bright showers of sparks on polished chrome and steel. There’s still a ridiculously long runway for an opening action sequence that feels bigger than Wallace and Gromit’s living room in The Wrong Trousers. There’s still Nicolas Cage’s dancing and prancing in a priest’s cassock at the beginning. John Powell’s score, particularly his use of brass instrumentation (something he’s known for; just listen to the soundtrack for How To Train Your Dragon for more information), brings everything to even greater life. Somehow, it manages to make everything less stupid than it should be, and more engaging and fun than it should be. A perfect combination of ingredients for a thoroughly entertaining two hours.
Score: 8/10
Review by Kieran Judge
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