Home Media Catch Up - Rage (2014)

Director: Paco Cabezas

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Danny Glover, Rachel Nichols, Peter Stormare, Max Ryan, Michael McGrady

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 92 Minutes

It's hard to believe that Nicolas Cage is both an Academy Award winning actor and sort of an action star. I use that term loosely because Cage's action films are typically pretty lousy or mediocre. Even though Cage is in a few awesome action films from the 90's (Face/Off, Con Air, The Rock), he is in just as many terrible contemporary ones (Bangkok Dangerous, Season of the Witch, Ghost Rider, Seeking Justice, etc.). Besides Kick-Ass, I can't remember the last time I watched a recent Nicolas Cage action film other than to see how bad it was.

Rage is an interesting entry for Nicolas Cage because it shows that he isn't afraid to tackle gritty direct to video action features. The film is very reminiscent of the type of DTV's that Steven Seagal stars in now-a-days. The film even bears many similarities to Seagal's early features like Above the Law and Out for Justice with its gritty action scenes, revenge plot, and bloody hand to hand combat. Unfortunately, this film is neither great like an early Seagal feature or so bad it's good like most of Cage's recent output. It sits somewhere in the middle; sort of a purgatory of mediocrity. It has a few solid action beats, a very interesting twist, and a nice gritty tone. But besides those positives, the rest of the film is boring, laughable, and as weak as they come.

Nicolas Rage

Paul Maguire (Nicolas Cage) is a former criminal turned legitimate businessman. He owns a construction business, has a lovely wife (Rachel Nichols), and a 16 year old daughter named Caitlyn. When Paul and his wife are out for dinner one night, three masked men break into his house and kidnap Caitlyn and attack her friends as well. Unfortunately, Caitlyn turns up dead a few days later. Distraught, Paul rounds up his two former partners in crime, Kane and Danny, to help him tear apart the city in search for who killed his daughter.

I like these kind of gritty down to earth action films that feature ordinary people in extraordinary situations. They tend to have basic plots with a simple level of engagement and good action scenes. To my regret, Rage nails the basic plot but fails on an emotional level and packs only a few short action scenes. Because the film can't engage or entertain, everything becomes boring and dull. 

The first 16 minutes of the film are incredibly bad. Rage attempts to portray Paul Maguire's everyday life as a businessman and a family man. These scenes are so generic and cheap I couldn't stop laughing. When Maguire's daughter and her friends hangout, they play the world's cheapest Guitar Hero rip-off I have ever seen. The controller doesn't even have a single button on it! Who do they think they are fooling? There is also a scene where Paul walks up behind his wife and starts kissing her on the neck and she becomes immediately turned on! I'm sorry, but I can't help but laugh when Nicolas Cage kisses a hot younger woman on the neck and somehow turns her on when he has that wig on his head.

I will say that for all of Rage's generic and boring qualities, there is a surprising twist at the end of the film that I did not see coming from a mile away. I didn't even think this kind of film would have a twist, but alas it did. This surprising twist breathes life into an otherwise dull film. And while the twist does make you look differently on characters' actions throughout the film, it's a shame that the film had to be a bore up until this revealing moment. The film's basic plot combined with its final twist makes it come off as a combination between A History of Violence, Out for Justice, and Mystic River (all better films that you should be watching instead of this film).

Look at that "Guitar Hero" controller!

Performances are pretty weak all around. Nic Cage does a fine job in the drama department. He just doesn't have very good material to work with. He cries a lot and even screams at the top of his lungs (as Cage does so well) in a few scenes. Cage even does a fine job in his few action scenes. I haven't seen a recent Nic Cage action film in a long time and was surprised to see that Cage can still carry an action scene. I think the film's worst offender is Cage's wig, it looks atrocious. He should just shave his head bald and get it over with already.

Cage has the best "so bad it's good" line in the film too. When Cage's friends ask him how deep they should go to find out who kidnapped his daughter, Cage replies, "How deep is hell?" Hilarious!

Poor Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon, Predator 2) and Peter Stormare (The Big Lebowski, Fargo) get dragged into the mix of this film as well. Their characters are pretty useless and serve little purpose beyond telling Nicolas Cage to let the police do their job. Danny Glover says the second best "so bad it's good" line in the film, "These criminals have a rap sheet as long as my dick." Classic. Everyone else in the film from mobsters, to the police, to Cage's friends are all decent or completely forgetful. It's unfortunate that every actor has to spew weak dialog as well. 

Bryan Mills would have saved his daughter in time.

Besides seeing how "so bad it's good" Rage was, the other draw for me was the action scenes. I really enjoyed the level of realistic brutality in this film; something I never thought I would see in a Nicolas Cage film (Drive Angry doesn't count, that's an homage to ridiculous exploitation cinema). Cage shoots his enemies point blank with shotguns and even slices them up with his trusty knife. The most brutal kill in the film goes to Nic Cage holding a thug's arm back and repeatedly slicing his arm over and over (pictured below). What a brutal kill!

There is also a great action scene reminiscent of the final shootout in Out for Justice where Nic Cage and his friends raid an apartment filled with gun wielding criminals. Cage blasts a criminal through a wall, shanks a knife through a criminal's hand into his back, and even lays on his back and fires a pistol in one hand and a shotgun in the other into two people! It's unfortunate that this is the only big shootout in the film because it is arguably the best action scene of the flick. More exciting and brutal gun fights like this might have made Rage a bit better.

And while the shootouts are shot well, the melee fights and chase scenes are pretty weak. These scenes are shot incredibly close with a camera that is far too shaky. Cage's character emphasizes that he is skilled with knives. And while he does knife up some enemies, the weak camera work makes it hard to see some of his knife fighting skills during the first true action scene of the picture.

The filmmakers should have taken a cue from DTV veterans Isaac Florentine (Undisputed II, III, Ninja, II) and John Hyams (Universal Soldier: Regeneration, Dragon Eyes) and allowed their shots and action scenes to breathe more. Wide shots, tracking shots, and lengthy action scenes pack more of a punch than short, shaky, and clunky action scenes.

Cage goes full Rage mode on this poor guy!

Rage isn't going to win any awards any time soon and neither is Nic Cage if he keeps doing films like this. The film suffers from generic dialog, weak storytelling, and forgetful characters who serve little to no purpose. And while this film mostly disappoints me, I did enjoy the film's gritty and violent action scenes that recall the bygone days of early 90's Steven Seagal. I only gave Rage a shot because it was recently added to Netflix. Therefore, I recommend a viewing of Rage only to the most die hard of Nicolas Cage fans who are able to access the film for free through Netflix or any other way possible. Otherwise, this is a forgetful DTV action flick that comes to life far too little and disappoints far too much.

Rating: 4/10 - A boring, dull, and clunky drama filled with a few great action beats.