I laughed all through the movie. Would d have rated it higher if the base premise wasn't a knock off of a. Raimi movie. Still it was much better done than Raimi's. Cage is back to acting with this script. No sleep walking through this one, it's his best movie in years. The key supporting roles are great as well. The action stunts work and don't seem like they were tossed in there just to have an explosion or car chase. Still there's that Hollywood taint that keeps the movie from being the classic it could have been. Things get a little too formula at parts in particular, meaning you know what is going to happen and why and when explained in the movie it's redundant as every other Hollywood movie in the last 20 years did the same hook and tricks. Still the premise and original ideas make it through the Hollywood taint allowing this to be a very funny movie.
Most comedies feel obligated to halt the laughs and create drama or tragedy or something. Not this movie, it actually creates tension without slowing down one bit. While not the funniest movie I've ever seen, this one is one of the funniest in the last decade. I especially love that Nickolas Cage was willing to play an exaggerated self for laughs. It shows humility and makes him quite human. Something few Hollywood stars would dare. I don't think we appreciate Cage as much as we should. Future generations will look back on his career and forget the mistakes and see his audacity and work ethic and appreciate it. This will be one of the movies that cement his legacy. It will be really tough for an actor to top Cage's self portrayal in this movie. Sure Raimi and Hasselhoff did something similar before, but not like this. Any actor portraying themself after this will be held up to Cage's performance in this movie and it'd be really tough to live up to what Cage wrought here.
Most comedies feel obligated to halt the laughs and create drama or tragedy or something. Not this movie, it actually creates tension without slowing down one bit. While not the funniest movie I've ever seen, this one is one of the funniest in the last decade. I especially love that Nickolas Cage was willing to play an exaggerated self for laughs. It shows humility and makes him quite human. Something few Hollywood stars would dare. I don't think we appreciate Cage as much as we should. Future generations will look back on his career and forget the mistakes and see his audacity and work ethic and appreciate it. This will be one of the movies that cement his legacy. It will be really tough for an actor to top Cage's self portrayal in this movie. Sure Raimi and Hasselhoff did something similar before, but not like this. Any actor portraying themself after this will be held up to Cage's performance in this movie and it'd be really tough to live up to what Cage wrought here.