Fonzo

"Hey soldier. You better kill me now, or I'll be coming for ya. That's a promise. You and your whole family." This was relatively uninteresting and quite a bore to get through until around the half way point, but even then it does just enough to warrant some enjoyment. I enjoyed the performances of both Nicolas Cage and KaDee Strickland as the creepy and demented couple, but that's about it. One of the highlights is just this random moment where Cage's character, Walter Franklin, asks the main character a simple 'when's the last time you... uh, got your cock sucked?' - it caught me so off guard I had to pause to process. This is Cage in his element, that I will say. Walter Franklin is ominous, slightly delirious but also feels extremely justified in his own morals and actions. He was by far the stand-out of this entire movie. There was great potential with the thriller aspects and tense atmosphere that the mansion provided, but they kind of throw it out the window just to become a basic cop drama in the final act which does suck. While I did like Walter's final stand, as it was foreshadowed in a previous conversation earlier in the movie, the ending didn't have much else going on. Overall, it narrowly manages to be a 3 star as I did find myself enjoying the 2nd half even if it was just mildly. But it's definitely bottom of the 3-star list.

"Hollywood called, and they want to make a movie about the G! And they said, who do you want to play? Clint Eastwood or Dan Aykroyd? I thought, I dunno... and then they brought up Nic Cage, and I said, Nic Cage and Con Air! Don't you think I look a little like Nic Cage and Con Air?" Genuinely the funniest movie I've had the pleasure of watching during this Cageathon thus far. It was such a surprising laugh and it only got better as it went on. Nicolas Cage is absolutely in his element as the unhinged (and actually real) Gary Faulkner, on a journey ordered by God to Pakistan to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice. It's truly a wonderful thing to see and the fact it has foundations in reality just exemplified it even more. I initially thought the mannerisms and insanity of Cage's performances were going to become tiresome quite early on into the movie, yet as it progessed I found myself warming up and seeing joy with each shout or nonsensical babble about America or God. In terms of comedic performances by Cage, this is without a doubt up there. Another shout-out I have to give though is Russell Brand as God himself. I really enjoyed the scenes between Faulkner and God, as it was so hilarious to see Brand perform such an interesting take on God. Initially a calm and collected being, before becoming increasingly annoyed and frustrated with the antics of Faulkner throughout the movie was such a hilarious direction to take the narrative and Brand excelled at the part. The humour was on point (especially how meta it got at the end), the physical comedy and even the wholesome domestic plot between Faulkner and his partner and her daughter was really adorable to watch. Faulkner always bringing gifts and including Lizzie was such a sweet addition and it made the domestic parts (albeit still comedic) feel like a nice break from the wacky hijinks that most of the movie was. It was truly just an enjoyable experience and I cannot complain about having many good laughs.

"Scariness is the true measure of a monster. If you're not scary, what kind of monster are you?" I honestly forgot most of this movie so this was pretty much a first watch. Oh my god, what a great movie! It was funny, sad, exhilarating and everything in between. I truly was so locked in, and actually felt something for that little green guy and that big blue guy. The constant fluctuating story of triumph then dismay to triumph and dismay again is executed immensely well and I just had a lot of fun riding this roller coaster. I felt for all the cast, Mike and Sully were both relatable in their respective struggles, the entire fraternity's development and arc was so satisfying to see pay off. I just think it's a great movie, it has great messages about the negatives of social expectation and the reality of changing your identity just to fit into a specific clique and it handles it well. The academic pressure of Mike and the familial pressure of Sully are also just exceptionally crafted throughout the movie. Overall, just a great watch. It hits even more on a technical rewatch years after once you can divulge and experience it a lot more.

"My son is dead! He's dead! He has a child on the way! What took you so long?!" I guess I'm just feeling a bit disappointed by the anticlimatic ending and the movie's pacing in general. It introduced too much at the beginning and when it tried to wrap up certain stories or characters, it just felt rushed or half-done. It was only 80 odd minutes long but I just feel tired. Only really two aspects of this movie stood out to me. The first is a scene performed by Nicolas Cage who plays an almost retired cop by the name of Mike Chandler, who lashes out at the SWAT team for being incredibly late to the bank robbery/hostage situation and therefore gave time for the gunmen within the bank to shoot his son-in-law, Steve MacAvoy. Perhaps I've just watched quite a few 'beige Cage' performances back to back but it was a pleasant surprise to see him so shouty and angry. The other aspect I did enjoy was MacAvoy's character, played amazingly by Dwayne Cameron. Mainly his 'death' scene and recording a message for his pregnant wife just really hits. His 'death' scene is without a doubt the highlight of the entire movie, as Cameron does a great job of acting genuinely on death's door and not wanting to go. What ruins this slightly though, MacAvoy survives. Which is great I'm glad he gets to see his daughter but... we had whole heartbreaking scene of him saying goodbye to his wife and accepting death just to.. fast forward a year and he's all fine and dandy. It left a sour taste in my mouth at the end. Overall, wouldn't really recommend unless you love standard police drama films or a Nicolas Cage enjoyer.