Sunday, November 9, 2008

Face/Off


In order to trap him, you must find him, face him, and....become him.
It's like looking in a mirror, only not.

Three important people to discuss in this movie~ John Woo, John Travolta, and Nicolas Cage~

Face/Off is considered John Woo's best film in Hollywood, solid directing technique, very cool and stylish...

There is alot of similiarities between Face/Off and The Killer (starring Chow Yun Fatt).

John Woo actually bring his signature image and pioneer heroic bloodshed scene from his earlier HongKong movie.
For those who like action movies, this is a must watch movie!

Following are some of my personal comment, but I think you need to watch the movie first, otherwise you might not get what I meant.
Coz the two main characters and the two actors actually switching each other role in the plot.

The climax part of the movie is the battle in church.

Church, statue of Jesus, Cross, choir, candle light, coffin....and doves....
Doves signify peace, John Woo choose doves as his signature's image.

Next, Mexican-standoff~~ a strategic deadlock of no-win situation.
Multiple opponents with guns aimed at each other.
Neither one of them can take a move.

The destroyed of church artifacts, chair, statue.
Carry a child by your left hand and holding a gun by your right hand, then kick your enemy ass!!!
Slow motion scenes, very stylish, very breathtaking, very beautiful.

We can see all those famous and memorable scenes in his movie!!!

Talking about the story, I think it is ridiculous, and, some people say....it is stupid.....
The movie didnt show us too detailed about the transform of whole body physical appearance, only FACE.
But I think the idea is not bad...just, there would be many weakness in the plot for the story like this.

But who cares?
The starpower of John Travolta and Nicolas Cage rescue all those weakness, with their terrific performance and topclass acting!!!

You can see how Travolta and Cage switching each other role, playing each other character in the movie.
Every single scene. you will definitely reinterpreting their character~ Archer and Troy.

The character name is notable from the Trojan War, the fight between
Achilles and Hector.
Face/Off is like a modern Trojan War, where the enemy invade your city by Trojan Horse.
As we can see in Face/Off, the enemy invade your life by the same technique.

How far would you go to kill your enemy?
Put the bullets on his head ??? (wait, that's your face on his head)
It's like pointing the gun at yourself, and yourself are pointing the gun back at you.
I simply love this kind of complex feeling and contradiction shown in this movie.

I like the scene where Archer and Troy face each other in the mirror.
Very brilliant, a superb move!!!
Finally you can see your enemy face, and recognize your enemy once again, to remind yourself who you really are.
That is the only way you can shoot your enemy, pull the fuckin trigger to release all your hatred and anger....


Face/Off~~~ J.T.'s favourite~~~

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can't remember this movie at all frankly...
but my dad loves this movie very much, or else i can't even remember the name of the movie~
gonna watch this some day~

Wei Xiang said...

JT, watch movie with u very stress! hahaha! dun wanna tell u why let u sam sii sii!

Anonymous said...

LOVE TIS MOVIE !!!
GREAT ACTING !!!
GREAT STORY !!!