Review of Face/Off (1997) by Anssi V — 02 Jan 2012

I like the concept of this film. The idea of two arch-enemies exchanging places and faces is just brilliant. Not unheard of, but still brilliant, and the two actors pull if off well. Plus the film is full of small touches that deal with the themes of identity, mirrors, revenge, obsession and duality.

In addition, the action scenes are done rather well, though sometimes I felt that they went on for a bit too long. I went "just kill him already" more than once during this film. So yeah, a bit of a hit and miss for me.

I like some of the themes and whatnot, but something in this film just didn't connect with me. Perhaps it was John Travolta, who's really not one of my favourites, perhaps it was Nicolas Cage's hamminess.

Or perhaps it was the fact that I would have liked a bit more depth to the plot, which, while uniquely visualized, was still your run-down-the-mill action thriller. So yeah, it's a good film and I can see why most people love it, but it wasn't for me personally.