Face/Off - Review

Look at me! Finally writing a review and not being lazy about it with facebook statuses.

Anyways.
Face/Off is a cop/badguy movie made in 1997 where the cop and the badguy's personas get switched or their faces if you didn't already figure that out. It stars John Travolta and Nicholas Cage and is directed by the ever-dramatic John Woo.It starts with a big chase scene between Shawn (The cop,Travolta) and Caster (Bad guy, Cage) and it ends with Caster getting apprehended in a coma. As a John Woo movie accordingly everything has it's own bit of flare. It makes the movie equal part annoying and entertaining. Anyways after getting caught Caster and his brother Pollux (Allessandro Nivolva) are suspected of planting a bomb somewhere in the city. So Shawn undergoes desperate measures to interogate Pollux about where the bomb is. He gets Caster face replaced with his own against Casters will (Because he is in a coma). And before Shawn can figure out where the bomb is Caster awakens and destroys the evidence the switch happens and steals Shawn's face. You can imagine the chaos that ensues. Caster abbuses his government job and bones somebody elses wife while Shawn is stuck in a maximum security prison for the rest of his life.
I was thoroughly intrigued with the premise of the movie and it kept me satisfied and entertained for the most part. John Woo's style is always a treat because he treats everything like he is in a museum. No hit is to hard to feel the impact and no gun is fired without the delicacy of a shell falling to the ground. No sex scene is too aggressive and no explosion is too violent. This makes for a very light action movie. And i think without the amazing talent of the cast which is so wonderfully casted the whole thing would have been a big mess. The acting carries the whole movie. The way John Travolta acts as both the good guy and the bad guy and determines 2 completely different identies with both is a sight to behold. The same goes for Nicholas Cage. Despite John Woo's cowardly style it really brings out the emotions of this movie. I think if it were impactful and heavy you would lose what the 2 starring roles have to offer.
Although the end battle made me gag a little bit due to how long it when on for it retained it's status as entertaining and utelized everything we've seen in the movie previously to it giving one of the most satisfying displays of foreshadowing known to mankind. Another thing John does well is not telling you who to root for which is what most modern cinamatography lacks these days.

I think if you like either of these actors you will enjoy this movie. My advice is that you check it out. It's a great movie to watch with friends and family.

John's loftyness and Travolta's/Cage's acting give this a solid 8.4/10
Fantastic and Entertaining.