“Face/Off” (1997)

Face/Off

Grade: B+

Self-aware of its own stupidity, blurring the lines between good taste and bad, Face/Off nevertheless earns the right to be taken seriously despite its hilariously “dumb on purpose” narrative — the brainlessness is completely intentional, part of the artistry. Actors Nicolas Cage and John Travolta are at their best, or maybe their worst, but that’s entirely the point: they provide plenty of laughs with just how ludicrous, how weird, how ugly they are willing to push themselves in this absurd mistaken-identity sci-fi action thriller.

Combined with John Woo’s slick, stylish, unrelenting aesthetic (filled with so much big-budgetry that I’m almost convinced the production is a front for the CIA — seriously: the face-swapping tech looks legit) and backed by John Powell’s overwhelmingly bombastic orchestral score (his film composing debut, echoing the epic sounds of mentor Hans Zimmer), Face/Off is a riot from start to finish: ultraviolent, over-the-top and beautiful in a twisted Tarantino sort of way. Now if only it weren’t so damn long…

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More by Nicolas Cage

• Face/Off (1997) B+
• Knowing (2009) B-
• The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (2010) C
• The Croods (2013) B+
• Renfield (2023) B-

More by John Powell

• Face/Off (1997) B+
• Gigli (2003) F
• Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) C+
• Wicked (2024) B+

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