Same great dissection, new different date. This review of the new Monday edition of Direct to DVD Dissection brings you a tale of Religious wars, Far Eastern Strife, and CRAZY AS HELL NIC CAGE. There really is no better way to get into a movie than that.
The Story
When the heir of the Imperial throne becomes the target of an assassination by his despised older brother, the young prince must flee the kingdom and seek protection. His only hope for survival is a reluctant war-weary crusader named Jacob, who must overcome his own personal demons and rally the assistance of a mythical outlaw known as The White Ghost. Together they must fight side by side in an epic battle to return the prince to his rightful place on the throne.
The Cast
Hayden Christensen as Jacob. Christensen has been in films like TAKERS and JUMPER, and played Anakin Skywalker in episodes II and III of the STAR WARS prequels. He took a break in 2010, but recently came back to acting, starting with this.
Nicolas Cage as Gallain. It’s Nicolas Cage. MOONSTRUCK, LEAVING LAS VEGAS, RAISING ARIZONA/ CON AIR, GONE IN 60 SECONDS, the NATIONAL TREASURE franchise, 8MM, LORD OF WAR, and more are in the filmography of this veteran actor.
Andy On as Shing. Andy On has been in several action films, best known for his role in TRUE LEGEND as well as BLACKHAT and also for his first movie role as Black Mask, in BLACK MASK 2: CITY OF MASKS, where he beat up a mutated Rob Van Dam.
Liu Yifei as Princess Lain. Aside from here, she’s best know for her other film appearance to make is stateside, as Golden Sparrow in THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM. She’s also a model and singer.
The Dissection
OUTCAST is a movie that feels like a movie that is too by-the-number for it’s own good. It’s not that it’s a bad movie, but it’s a movie that seems to go through a checklist for it’s movie. It’s a movie that felt built up with cliches and tropes instead of using a story or development. A movie that just did enough, instead of going to either extreme by the end.
Not to say this is a bad movie or a movie that no one cared about. There is a lot of good work in here. The cinematography and visuals of the film look nice, and you pick up the grand scale the film is trying to push out in it. It also does a lot of good set pieces and actions scenes during it’s 90 minute run-time. Also, apart from one person I’ll mention separately, the acting in the movie is up to snuff, and Christensen does give a good, albeit dry, performance of his character of a shell shocked crusader who wants to repent for past sins in the name of God.
Jacob (Christensen), the main character of this story.
The main issue of the film is that, beyond that, it never really gives a progression for the story, nor much development for any of the characters the audience is suppose to listen to. There’s a member of the party that, once she joins, proceeds to really do nothing of interest in the movie. The whole way from point A to point B, and any kind of story elements in there don’t feel organic, but rather what is expected, like romantic tension with Jacob and Lain blossoming from them arguing from the beginning, or the young prince learning how to defend himself. It’s small bits that really end up leading nowhere special.
And then we get to Nicolas Cage….
So, while Nicolas Cage is the second billed name on the cover, he’s not in the movie for much of it. He’s there in the epilogue of the film, and bits here or there during the middle, and he is one of the focuses in the third act, but that’s it. Now, from early one, he’s not doing anything too out there. He’s got a big beard and he had a weak accent that sounded vaguely French, but he was kind of subdued. Cut to the third act, and he shows up again wielding snakes around his fists, yelling in an accent that makes his sound like a pirate, and hamming it up like there’s no tomorrow. There is almost no scene in the third act he is in that comes off as anything other than over the top “ACTING”. And the thing about it is, that would have actually have been welcomed if he was in the movie the whole way through.
Barring Cage, the characters are kind of bland. A movie like this feels like it was better to have an ensemble, similar to another Nicolas Cage film, SEASON OF THE WITCH. Jacob spends most of the time depressed, drunk, or both, and you kind of wish there was someone he can play off of. The same could be said of Lain and the children characters, who spend about 90% of the film just being there.
“…..Well, isn’t this ironic?”
Onto the disc, the movie comes with some extras. You have some interviews that were done with the director, Nick Powell, as well as Christensen and Cage. These go into a bit of detail on the film and on other topics as well. There’s also a feature for the film that focuses on the actual premise, as well as trailers for this and other films by the distributor.
The Verdict
OUTCAST, overall, comes off as very middle of the road. Not bad for any big reason, but not great for any big reason either. It’s still worth a look, doubly so if you need more craziness from Nic Cage for posterity, but it’s good enough to entertain for 90 minutes, but don’t expect anyth8ing more than that.