Snap Judgments Review: 'Rage' Starring Nicolas Cage

In Paco Cabezas' revenge-thriller, Rage, Nicolas Cage plays a former gangster-turned-businessman whose past comes back to haunt him when his daughter is kidnapped. Finding the cops to be less than helpful, and encouraged by his wife (Rachel Nichols), he rounds up the old crew and starts cracking skulls around town in hopes of uncovering the truth, only to learn there's more to her disappearance than meets the eye.

Also starring Peter Stormare and Danny Glover, Rage is available now On Demand and hits DVD/Blu-Ray August 12th. Check out my Snap Judgments review of Rage below!

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Review: 'Heatstroke' Starring Maisie Williams, Stephen Dorff, and Svetlana Metkina

Only those who have enjoyed Maisie Williams' seasons-long trek on HBO's Game of Thrones may find something notable about Heatstroke, a survival thriller in which she crosses the African desert with another adult companion. Otherwise the film, directed by Evelyn Purcell in her first feature since the '80s, fails to take proper advantage of the danger-rich environment full of evil poachers, wild hyenas, and Mother Nature's brutal hand. With little to offer but bland, generic characters and lukewarm shocks, the real act of survival is making it through Heatstroke all the way through to the end.

Stephen Dorff is Paul, an expert on hyenas who is gearing up for a trip to the wilds of Africa to study the predators, bringing along his hot, tough-as-nails Russian girlfriend, Tally (Svetlana Metkina), to help out. The film kicks off with Tally, looking battered and frayed by the sun, eluding mysterious adversaries in a Cessna, so we know she can hold her own. But is she tough enough to deal with a bratty American teenager? Paul's daughter, Jo (Williams), was caught with drugs and now she's been forced to tag along with Dad so he can keep an eye on her. Jo is a spoiled brat whose face is always buried in her Ipad or ears under headphones, and when she does bother to speak it's to complain about Dad's lover or the boring surroundings.

It's a fairly one-note performance by Williams as the bratty teen, and for much of the first half of Heatstroke it plays out like an especially arid family dispute, one with the occasional hyena passing through. But then a string of events involving poachers (led by the ever-boring Peter Stormare), a car crash, and a murder thrust Tally and Jo into one another's company where neither wants to be. Chased by killers while low on life-giving water, the duo's squabbles are understandably heightened, and for a time there's a great deal of promise in watching these enemies leaning on one another for support. Exhaustion, fatigue, mirages, and the constant threat of heat stroke are long-term threats, but the most immediate concern is Jo's attitude and downright stupidity at times. Her stubbornness puts them in greater danger on more than one occasion, literally walking right into the poachers' base camp at one point. Fortunately for her, Tally's pretty badass, a sort of poor man's Lara Croft with survival skills in spades. If only we got to see more of them. And Metkina is certainly no Angelina Jolie; she lacks the charisma to lead a film like this, and the other performances are similarly underwhelming. Purcell, who also wrote the script, does a great job of capturing the exotic, wide expanse of bush country but is less effective at depicting action, something she's rarely been called upon to do and likely won't be called upon to do again.

Rating: 2 out of 5

 Heatstroke is available now On Demand here.

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Nicolas Cage Shows His 'Rage' In New Trailer

So you know that big comeback Nicolas Cage made in David Gordon Green's acclaimed southern drama, Joe? Well...since nobody saw the film (I did, and loved it immensely) nobody can vouch for that comeback. And so Cage is back doing what he's infamous for, namely starring in crap paycheck movies like Rage, which had been going by the title Tokarev except nobody knew what the frig that meant.

Directed by Paco Cabezas and co-starring Rachel Nichols, Peter Stormare, and Danny Glover, a trio that ensures crap awaits, the film has Cage as an ex-con whose past comes back to haunt him. Russian mobsters kidnap his daughter in hopes of recovering some stolen cash, while Cage's character tries not to slip back into old criminal habits. Looks like he fails spectacularly.

Oddly enough, if you go to the film's Wikipedia page it basically lay out the entire plot for those inclined to read it. You may enjoy it more than this horrible, cheap-looking trailer. Rage is expected to open later this year and probably turn up on Blu-Ray the next day or something.

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Watch the first five minutes of 'Lockout', starring Guy Pearce

I've been amazed by the amount of attention being received by Lockout, the latest sci-fi film produced by Luc Besson and starring Guy Pearce. A few months ago this looked like just another of Besson's many movies that would do well overseas but be soundly ignored on our side of the pond, but through clever marketing highlighting the film's humor, in particular Pearce's snappy banter, it's suddenly on track to be a sleeper hit for the early part of the year. It doesn't hurt that many of the clips resemble Taken in outer space.

The first five minutes or so are now online, showing Pearce cracking wise("I'm being beaten up by a guy called Rupert"?) as he takes a torturous beating while Peter Stormare questions him about a past screw up. If the rest of the movie is this fast paced and quippy, we could be in for a treat. Check out the clip below, followed by the official synopsis....



PLOT: Starring Guy Pearce and Maggie Grace and set in the near future, LOCKOUT follows a falsely convicted ex- government agent (Pearce), whose one chance at obtaining freedom lies in the dangerous mission of rescuing the President’s daughter (Grace) from rioting convicts at an outer space maximum security prison.

Lockout hits theaters on April 13th!

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Trailer Time: Lockout, starring Guy Pearce and Maggie Grace

When Luc Besson puts his name on something, I tend to stand up and take notice. The French auteur hasn't done a science fiction film in years, going all the way back to The Fifth Element. Instead he's been content with espionage thrillers and beefy action flicks, mixed with the occasional flight of fancy like The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec.  With Lockout, which he exec-produced and co-wrote, he steps firmly back into the sci-fi genre and doesn't look to have missed a beat.

Starring Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, and Peter Stormare, the film follows a government agent convicted of a crime he didn't commit, but offered a chance at freedom if he can rescue the President's daughter from an outer space prison overrun by the inmates.

James Mather and Stephen St. Leger are directing, two guys I've never heard of so they must be newcomers.

The plot does have a certain Escape from LA vibe to it, doesn't it? Comingsoon.net have the new international trailer for the film, which is set to be released next year on April 20th(4/20 dude!!). Check it out below...

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