Face Off Movie Review

"I'd like to take his face...off"

John Woo's Face/Off is badass 90's action at its finest. Every aspect of this movie oozes 90's action cinema and I absolutely love it. From the wacky ass story to the bombastic and over the top firefights Face/Off is a must-see for any action movie enthusiast.

The movie is pretty standard action fare but where it starts to get really nuts is when Sean Archer is forced to trade faces with Castor Troy. Yes, the characters literally trade faces along with getting their body augmented and getting voice modules installed. It's absurd but the movie knows it and plays into it extremely well. It's a bit melodramatic but thanks to the excellent performances from John Travolta and Nic Cage the ridiculousness really works. I especially love John Travolta's villain, it's refreshing and he really nails being a sinister presence very reminiscent of his previous role in Broken Arrow, also directed by Woo. The supporting cast does a great job selling the insanity and add depth to Sean and Castor, grounding them in this absurd reality.

But we all came here for the action and this movie delivers. Face/Off has dual wielding slow-motion gunfights, high-speed chases, and doves flying all over the place. The movie takes about 20 minutes before the first excellent action scene but from then on the movie doesn't let up and every action scene to follow is more intense and crazier, especially the final encounter. It's violent in a way only a 90's action movies can be. Face/Off embraces its violence often resulting in bloody goodness making sure there is never a dull moment. Every action scene is lengthy and varied adding multiple layers to each fight. Each one escalates as the movie goes making sure you always have something more exciting to look forward too.

This is a movie that every action movie fan needs to see. The story is solid, the action is violent and most of all its one hell of a fun