classicsoncall
The sci-fi aspect of the story is commendable but things get somewhat preposterous rather quickly. The difference in size between John Travolta and Nicolas Cage should have triggered some kind of reaction in the other characters they dealt with, not to mention their proportionally different shaped heads. Travolta's is a lot rounder while Cage has a more elongated aspect. Certainly Sean Archer's wife Eva (Joan Allen) should have figured something was wrong when she shared a bed with Sean's replacement. Additionally, as Archer (Travolta) assumed Castor Troy's (Cage) identity, he didn't have much of a problem with multiple law enforcement authorities getting killed in the line of duty, not to mention stealing a car when the opportunity arose. Some FBI agent! I'll say this, if Nicolas Cage wasn't a pro-wrestling fan I'd be surprised. During the jail break with Ivan Dubov (Chris Bauer), he let out with a handful of Whoo's! that would have made Ric Flair proud. You know, I thought it was pretty dumb when Sean (as Castor) derided brother Pollux (Alessandro Nivola) after learning of the bomb plant at the Los Angeles Convention Center. That was just an unforced error that wasn't necessary.The film's primary audience is the action/adventure crowd and on that score the picture delivers. The boat crash to wind things up at the finale is simply spectacular, even if the logistics of the high speed chase on water defies credibility. With identities back in place for the closing scene, anyone who didn't see Sasha's (Gina Gershon) son Adam coming around to fill the vacuum left by young Michael (Myles Jeffrey) from the film's opening scene, well you just weren't paying attention. All's well that ends well I guess.
Tom
John Woo is well known for his action films. Some are good, some aren't. Face/Off could have been among his best and also among one of the best action films ever made. But Woo insisted on one major drawback throughout the entire film. His ridiculous and continuous use of slow motion during virtually every single action scene, and there are probably dozens.
If Woo had a scene where a bicycle flew off a cliff he'd have it explode. There's no such scene in this movie thank goodness, but I wouldn't put it past him. Explosions can be highly entertaining but only if they fit the scene. Blowing up everything in sight just because you can is lazy. Apparently the majority of reviewers here fell for Woo's lame tricks where instead of him saying watch my movie he's screaming look at me. Oh well, what can you expect in a world filled with sheep?
merelyaninnuendo
Face/OffThe concept will take its time to let it sink in but before you do, you find yourself already enjoying these characters of John Woo which offers kick back to the movie and bursts it out of the door.
edwagreen
You would swear that the beginning of the film is really the end, but it is only the beginning!With villain Nicolas Cage comatose after shooting agent John Travolta's young son on a merry-go-round, the action really begins when Travolta goes through a face change to look like Cage so that he can infiltrate Cage's group to find out where the terrorist Cage has planted a bomb to go off in Los Angeles.Cage awakens and kills everyone associated with the surgery before he undergoes the same operation to look like Travolta.The film unwinds to show the ramifications of the surgery with Cage,as Travolta, going to the latter's wife, a physician, played by Joan Allen who is up to her ears in bewilderment as she senses something is terribly wrong. Cage, as Travolta, dislodges the bomb only to become a hero, but eventually fed up with taking orders from his superior, he kills the latter.The special effects are marvelous and there is plenty of excitement down to the last moment. A Hollywood ending if ever there were.
AD
