Nic Cage has made a career out of making B-movies that get wide releases. Sure some of them are actually quite good and a lot of fun, for example, just look at Drive Angry, a film that knows what it is and makes no apologies for it, which, in my opinion, makes the film a hell of a lot more fun that it has any right to be. Sometimes though, and this is actually most of the time, he churns out dud after dud. The recent of which is the Neighbourhood watch turned nasty chase thriller, Justice.
Now I’m not going to make any apologies for Nic Cage because he's in some of my favourite films, Con Air, The Rock, National Treasure 1&2, the list goes on, but for the last couple of years and last year in particular, Mr. Cage has made a series of films, one after another that are, as most critics have said, utter shit. Now I can't say if I agree with that or not because I haven’t seen all of the films he made within that year. What I can do though is tell you about the one film I have seen that isn't Drive Angry, it's Justice. Let's look at the plot. Basically Cage plays an English teacher in a New Orleans high school. He's married to cellist, January Jones, (fuck that for reality). His best friend is that Michael guy who fucked shit up in LOST. January gets attacked and raped one night and Cage does his usual over-acting, then Guy Pearce shows up (dunno how much they offered him but it was probably A LOT), and tells Cage that he knows who did it and that if he wants he can get rid of him for him. Well he makes him an offer he can't refuse and much like that classic film of gangster life, Pearce uses the old Godfather trick of 'we do this then you owe us a favour'. So he agrees and Pearce has the guy killed. Next thing you know, Cage is asked to do a favour. Long story short, cage stumbles upon a conspiracy involving a secret organisation that seeks justice, but in a not judicial way. Oh did I mention Cage is MARRIED to January Jones, fuck, her being married to Liam Neeson in Unknown, is more believable than this.
The problem that I had with Justice is that it's been done several times before. This film adds jack shit to the thriller genre and it's wildly unbelievable in it's execution, the film even resorts to the old cliché of running across a busy road, trying to dodge speeding traffic with bad guys chasing him. The film however does have an interesting idea behind it's 'way of getting Justice'. Each person who is helped by Pearce and his Neighbourhood Watch scheme, themselves become a target. This was a neat twist in the tired old chase thriller. What they could have done with the idea is open for suggestion but what they ended up doing is making a been there done that film that bored the shit out of me for its entire 107minute run time. This is merely a straight to DVD movie with a named cast. That pretty much what your getting with this film.
It bugs the shit out of me that the talent behind this is wasted. Calling the shots behind the camera is Roger Donaldson, a respected director with films like Cocktail, The Bounty, Species (oh c'mon Natasha Henstridge boobs make an appearance), the brilliant noir thriller White Sands and Dante's motherfucking Peak to his credit, so what the hell happened here? Not only do we have a decent director behind the camera, but we have decent actors in front of the camera. Guy Pearce, who I remember as Mike from Neighbours all those years ago, is a top class actor, why is he slumming it in this drek, don't get me wrong he's superb as Simon, the evil mastermind behind the conspiracy, but I don't get it. Then there's Harold Perrineau, that guy from Lost, but not just from that show, but wheelchair bound prisoner, Augustus Hill in the brilliant HBO show, OZ. Here he's a small cog in a confusing plot and is woefully under used. January Jones is another pretty decent actress with some good roles to her credit but there's a point in this film where she's forgotten about for a good 20-30 minutes and then like magic, she's back. It's gaping plot problems like this that really ruin this film. The other element that causes this film fail is Cage himself, Don't get me wrong, he's Cage and he does what Cage does best, but what the fuck is that thing around his mouth, it's like he's trying to look like Fu Manchu. I know I’ve sworn a lot during this review and I apologise for that, but when you watch a film that infuriates you to a point where the only word to describe a film is to use a swear word, you pretty much get an idea of the kind of film you're about to watch. But as always this is an opinion and they do vary.
Overall, Justice is a pointless movie, It has a neat premise that is totally botched and some very dull and uninspiring visuals. It's neither fast paced nor slow burn, it's just boring. Nic Cage has done far worse films than this (The Wicker Man Remake), but this is pretty high on the list of films Cage has made that are crap. Like always, I do recommend a rental, not a purchase, and only if you can get it for free. Maybe if we stop paying attention, Nic Cage might go a away for a bit.
Oh yeah did I mention he's married to January Jones...
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