Nicolas Cage promised this would be his “wildest movie yet” and he’s not necessarily lying. Putting him in a leather suit that will self-destruct in five days and facing off with samurai and ghosts is… a lot.
The best reason to see the movie is the great, if not entirely original, production design and a committed performance from Cage.
Sadly, despite all the most intriguing concepts – including people who seem to be half human and half mannequin – the film bogs down about halfway through.
You may have heard about the, er, explosive scene where Cage’s character loses a much-missed body part, leading to an all-time great line delivery from the always game star.
The film begins with Cage and partner (a nearly unrecognizable Nick Cassavetes) robbing a bank in Samurai Town. Cage’s character, simply called “The Hero,” just wants the money but his partner wants to shoot up the place.
Long story short, The Hero ends up in a small cell in the town’s prison, handcuffed and clad in the kind of skimpy outfit a sumo wrestler would wear. Cage is a tremendous sport for letting director Sion Sono shoot close-ups of him in this get-up and for the scene where the town’s women giggle and ooh over him when he’s brought out to meet The Governor (cult film staple Bill Moseley), who has a proposition for him.
The town’s leader offers to free The Hero if he finds his missing granddaughter, Bernice. It’s not until he puts on the leather suit and zips it up, that the explosive features are activated. He now has five days to find Bernice or he’ll be blown up. And The Governor holds the only key to de-activate it.
It’s not clear where the fictitious Samurai Town the film begins is supposed to be. It’s a mash-up of a Japanese village and a town from the Old West. Most of the townspeople speak Japanese, but there are plenty of westerners who speak English as well.
The time period is fuzzy as well, as The Hero learns when he leaves Samurai Town and enters a wasteland of sorts, supposedly haunted by ghosts. He missed a lot during those 10, 20, 30? – years in jail.
While the post-civilization ruins he comes across in his search for Bernice makes for a great set, the fanciful, motorcycle-gang-inspired costumes turn the film into yet another Mad Max copy – especially with Cage in head-to-toe leather.
Arguably the worst mistake the film makes is sidelining Boutella for all but the finale of the movie. The trailer shows her in action, but she really only has one fight scene.
This is definitely worth a look if you’re a Cage diehard. Nic almost, but not quite, makes this movie work. Let’s hope he and Boutella reteam for a better movie soon.
Rating 2.5 out of 5 stars
* * * * *
Produced by Laura Rister, Michael Mendelsohn,
Ko Mori, Reza Sixo Safai, Nate Bolotin
Written by Aaron Hendry, Reza Sixo Safa
Directed by Sion Sono
Starring Nicolas Cage, Sofia Boutella, Maya Carraz,
Bill Moseley, Nick Cassavetes, Tak Sakaguchi, Charles Glover
