I'm not a horror fan. When I do watch them I like movies like The Shining and and Hellraiser where there's an imaginative take on evil. This movie fits in very well in that group but on a level all its own. There's something very intelligent in the director's approach though I can't describe it well. Maybe students of cinema will have more to say about it. I do know it didn't have me feeling nervous or jumpy when it was done despite some truly harrowing scenes.
The plot is not very complicated, Nicholas Cage, as a happily married man, finds himself and his wife the victims of some truly psychotic killers. He then proceeds to hunt them down. It's an old familiar story, but the director, Panos Cosmatos, makes it seem fresh again. The scenes with the bad guys are memorably intense. And though there's a touch of the supernatural here, it's clearly just a way of expressing the depravity being contemplated, and not really an element of the plot.
I wondered for a second when it was done whether perhaps someone like Bruce Willis might not have been a better choice for Nicholas Cage's part, but after a brief moment I was sure Mr. Cage was the better choice for this part. He does a wonderful job. Kudos to him for being willing to do this movie, though it is reminiscent of Ghost Rider, it is far more emotionally engaging.
The plot is not very complicated, Nicholas Cage, as a happily married man, finds himself and his wife the victims of some truly psychotic killers. He then proceeds to hunt them down. It's an old familiar story, but the director, Panos Cosmatos, makes it seem fresh again. The scenes with the bad guys are memorably intense. And though there's a touch of the supernatural here, it's clearly just a way of expressing the depravity being contemplated, and not really an element of the plot.
I wondered for a second when it was done whether perhaps someone like Bruce Willis might not have been a better choice for Nicholas Cage's part, but after a brief moment I was sure Mr. Cage was the better choice for this part. He does a wonderful job. Kudos to him for being willing to do this movie, though it is reminiscent of Ghost Rider, it is far more emotionally engaging.