Face/Off (1997)

3.5 out of 4

Starring: Nicolas Cage, John Travolta, Joan Allen, Gina Gershon, Dominique Swain

Director: John Woo

Time: 138 mins

Acclaimed Hong Kong director John Woo's (Hard Boiled, The Killer) first two American films, Hard Target and Broken Arrow, were considered disappointments. Many critics labelled them run-of-the-mill action films, with little of the artistic qualities and trademark balletic bloodshed that had characterised and distinguished his HK epics. My opinions on those two films differed. I thought that Broken Arrow was quite a good, if not great, film, with a very good performance by John Travolta, and even Hard Target, though saddled with Jean Claude Van Damme, had its share of kinetic moments. In Face/Off, however, Woo seems to have been able to satisfy his long time fans and win new ones with its fascinating though highly improbable tale of identity-swapping coupled with high-powered shootouts and exhilarating chases.

When I first saw Face/Off in June 1997, I thought it was an overlong action film that was distinguished only by the fact that it boasted two strong lead performances and that it actually had a story. On subsequent viewings, however, I have come to appreciate its depth and the many trademark Woo touches. For example, many of the gun fights happen in slow motion, including one surreal sequence that has the song Somewhere Over the Rainbow playing in the foreground while bodies, glass and furniture are being riddled and shattered by machine gun bullets. Then there are the gun-in-each-hand shootouts, especially while one person is diving through the air. My favourite Woo moment, however, is near the beginning, when Cage's character arrives at the airport to meet his brother. In slow motion, Cage rises out of the car to the accompaniment of a 9-note riff, in the middle of which the wind picks up and the bottom of his black overcoat rises and flutters behind him. In one word: cool.

The story, as mentioned earlier, is highly improbable, even ludicrous, but if you accept it as believable and let it draw you in, it works. Sean Archer (Travolta) is a government agent who has spent six years tracking down super terrorist Castor Troy (Cage), ever since Troy botched an assasination attempt at Archer, and killed Archer's son instead. After a tip-off, Archer and his co-agents storm the airport where Castor and his brother Pollux have chartered a plane. A furious shooting fest ensues, where Pollux is captured and Castor is left in a coma, but not before Archer has been alerted to a bomb planted somewhere in LA. He agrees to a highly classified mission where he assumes Castor's face (and identity) and enters the same high security prison where Pollux has been sent, in the hope of obtaining the location of the bomb. But then Castor awakens from his coma, and all hell breaks loose. Castor now assumes Archer's face and identity, and turns Archer's life into a nightmare.

Aside from its story and intense action sequences, Face/Off also shows surprising depth by examining the nature of identity, and how one would react if one became another person. Castor (as Archer) actually turns into a better husband (to Joan Allen) and father (to Dominique Swain) than Archer had been during his obsessive quest to capture Castor, while Archer (as Castor) learns that loyalty and honour are also high amongst criminals. Though the film is dominated by Cage and Travolta's performances, it also has the time to develop three strong female characters: Allen as Archer's long-suffering wife, Eve; Swain as Archer's rebellious daughter; and Gina Gershon (from Bound) as Castor's lover. Allen, in particular, is excellent in another role as a wife (how many wives has she played lately?).

In an era when many so-called action films have poor acting, little plot, and even boring action (think Van Damme), Face/Off is like a breath of fresh air. It may not have the most believable story, but it boasts a very good cast at the top of their form and a lot of style. Suffice it to say it is one of the best action films of the last five years.

(c) Joe Wong