Review:
"Prisoners of the Ghostland"
Release Date: Sept. 17, 2021
Rating: Unrated Running Time: 103 minutes The Nicolas Cage of Jerry Bruckheimer-produced glossy action extravaganzas rarely allowed himself to indulge in the strange and the absurd. But that was then and this is now. Cage’s swift transition in the 2010s from one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars to a constant presence in low-budget, independently produced day-and-date dramas, thrillers, and horror films has allowed the Oscar winner the freedom to occasionally work with visionary directors unconcerned about mainstream success. Think Panos Cosmatos (Mandy) and Richard Stanley (Color Out of Space). With Prisoners of the Ghostland, Cage pairs up with Sion Sono, the Japanese director beloved by the Fantastic Fest crowd. The result is an ambitious but imperfect merging of the Samurai Western and the supernatural. By no means a spiritual sequel to this year’s splatterfest Wally’s Wonderland, the near-future Prisoners of the Ghostland does once again find Cage as a man with no name on a deadly mission in hostile territory. Sono drops Cage’s decidedly antiheroic Hero (yes, with a capital “H”) into a disaster zone ravaged by nuclear waste and cursed by time to rescue Sofia Boutella’s Bernice. Only Bernice does not want to be returned to her adoptive grandfather, the vicious governor (Bill Moseley) of Samurai Town. But Cage’s imprisoned bank robber has strong motivation to comply with the Governor’s orders to retrieve Bernice. He is required to wear a black leather suit adorned with mini-explosives timed to detonate if he does not find and return with Bernice within a certain number of days. Yes, Prisoners of the Ghostland is as close as Sono comes to remaking Escape From New York. As is expected, the visually sumptuous, intricately staged Prisoners of the Ghostland’s produces many otherworldly moments that inform this intriguing collaboration between two eccentric creative forces. Cage racing of on a delivery bike, for example, is a striking and amusing sight to behold. Of course, Cage is very much in his element regardless of whether he is roaming around a Mad Max-ish post-apocalyptic wasteland or engaging in swordplay on the streets of a feudal-style frontier city. As a guilt-ridden criminal forced to confront his personal demons, Cage alternates between simmering intensity and a complete lack of restraint. Cage would emerge as more of a disruptive influence if Sono was able to settle on a specific tone for Prisoners of the Ghostland. Sono hastily switches between the ethereal and the ludicrous, which prevents Prisoners of the Ghostland from scaling the mythical heights it desperately wants to reach. Indeed, Cage’s trek into the Ghostland never proves to be as compelling or as eventful as the violent episodes that occur both in the past and in the present in Samurai Town. The film grinds to a halt in the Ghostland, which rarely reveals itself to be bizarre or as transcendent as Sono thinks it is, even when Cage’s former partner-in-crime (Nick Cassavetes) arrives to further complicate matters. Sono brings a ferocity to Samurai Town that obviously stands in stark contrast to the melancholy that afflicts the Ghostland. Sono masterfully orchestrates several outbreaks of violence that soak the streets of Samurai Town with blood, including a bank robbery that serves as the impetus for Cage’s quest for redemption and a climax that allows Cage and the otherwise under-utilized Sofia Boutella to show off their Samurai sword skills. Dressed head to toe in white as the power-drunk Governor, Bill Moseley presides over Samurai Town with an iron grip, a unreasonable sense of righteousness, and an irresistible bluster that makes him an effective if somewhat cartoon-ish villain, Otherwise, Prisoners of the Ghostland’s attempts at laconic and/or shocking humor are hit and miss. Although those who prefer their Cage uncaged will undoubtedly embrace many of his outbursts and proclamations, especially when he sustains one injury after another. Sono obviously takes delight in seeing Cage squirm on pain to the point it does became a running joke of sorts. Then again, what is Hero’s journey without significant pain and the suffering? Robert Sims Aired: Sept. 16, 2021 Web sites: https://www.facebook.com/RLJEfilms/ |
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