PRISONERS OF THE GHOST LAND (2021)

 

DIRECTED by Sion Sono

SCREENPLAY by Aaron Hendry & Reza Sixo Safai

STARRING - Nicholas Cage as Hero

Sofia Boutella as Bernice

Bill Moseley as Governor

Nick Cassavetes as Psycho

Tak Sakaguchi as Yasujiro

Yuzuka Nakaya as Susie

Young Dais as Ratman

Koto Lorena as Stella

Canon Nawata as Nancy

Jai West as Jay

Charles Glover as Enoch

Cici Zhou as Chimera

PLOT - Sometime in the future, after an apocalypse.

When Bernice, the adopted daughter of a local warlord - The Governor - disappears into the post apocalyptic land known as the Ghost land, a hardened criminal is unleashed from jail to undergo the hazardous task to rescue her.

The hapless criminal is forced to wear a bodysuit that is wired into his nervous system that is primed to explode if he fails in his task.

We follow the criminal on his journey to find Bernice and on the way he'll learn that both their past and future destinies are inextricably linked.

Can the criminal become the hero he needs to be to survive the haunted highways of a dead world ?...

PERFORMANCES - The Internet's favourite walking meme, none other than Nicholas Cage himself stars as the literal "Hero" in this surreal post apocalyptic/western/martial arts art movie. Cage is a good fit for this type of film - he's always been an interesting and divisive actor mainly due to his distinctive acting style, some people love him, others hate him with a passion and claim that he can't act and only gets cast because he's Francis Ford Coppola's nephew.

Me ? I think he's great.

If nothing else, even in his most dull Hollywood potboilers, you can't deny that he's consistently entertaining - whether he's running around wearing plastic teeth and shouting "I'm a vampire" into the faces of confused looking passers by in Vampire's Kiss, gurning into the camera as he undergoes a demonic transformation in Ghost Rider or punching a woman in the face whilst wearing a bear suit in the ill advised remake of The Wicker Man, one things for sure - with Nick Cage involved, this film is going to at least be memorable.

To top it off, this movie is even given a tagline by the man himself - "The wildest movie I've ever made" - if Cage himself admits this film is batshit insane then we're definitely in for a treat right ?

Cage doesn't disappoint in this, he completely lives up to his bizarre reputation whilst playing the titular "hero". Although eventually adopting this name, Cage's character doesn't initially strike us as heroic - quite the reverse in fact.

When we first meet Cage's character he's involved in a violent bank robbery with his friend Psycho (Nick Cassavetes - who's character certainly lives up to his name), the heist goes wrong and several innocent people are shot dead, including a small boy. "Hero" is in jail for the deaths and at first we think he's the one who pulled the trigger. Eventually - via a series of dreamlike flashbacks we learn that "Hero" is indeed a good guy - he tried to stop Psycho going...well...psycho and tried to prevent him from shooting people only to be arrested and banged up for the killings himself.

After this, "Hero" is employed by the Governor (Bill Moseley) to rescue his "daughter" Bernice (Sofia Boutella) from the post apocalyptic "Ghostlands" and strapped into a suit that's rigged to explode if he stays from his task. As you can imagine this pisses "Hero" off no end. 

Cage basically plays "Hero" as a moody "man with no name" type with that unmistakable dash of Cage mania and eccentricity. There's some classic "Cage rage" moments here, particularly when he gets one of his balls blown off by the explosive suit - if you've ever wanted to see Nicolas Cage scream the word "Testicle" at the top of his voice then this is the film for you.

Then there's the rest of the cast - We've got Bernice who comes across as quite mysterious and ethereal, she also never says much (especially in the first half of the film), Boutella's unusual yet strangely beautiful looks help sell this character's unconventional female lead aesthetic.

Then we get horror movie icon Bill Moseley as the Governor - he's spot on note perfect for this villainous character - coming across as both an old fashioned "southern gentlemen" type that masks the dark, ruthless and evil monster that lies behind this mask of civility. It's great seeing Moseley and Cage square up to each other - two actors noted for their eccentric screen presence butting heads, great stuff.

A quick mention must also go to Tak Sakaguchi as Yasujiro - the Governor's right hand man, a Samurai warrior who develops a rivalry with "Hero"- the two clash many times over the course of the movie and while they remain enemies throughout, you do get the impression that they both respect each other deep down. Sakaguchi plays his part with a sense of honour and nobility even though his character is one of the villains...oh and he gets some absolutely kick arse fight scenes too.

SFX - Not really a lot to speak of - mainly some nice examples of makeup work and costume design when it comes to the inhabitants of the Ghostland. There's also a few moments of small scale gore effects as well.

SEX & VIOLENCE - At one point in the film "Hero" becomes...let's just say "amorously aware" of Bernice but uh oh...too late, this arousal causes his suit to go boom, resulting in him getting one of his testicles blown to smithereens - cue Nick Cage hoping around on one leg like Wyle E. Coyote before holding the remains of his testicle in a close up to the camera and passing out. Well who can blame him really...

The rest of the violence veers a thin line between cartoonish and highly stylised - there's some very well choreographed martial arts fight scenes with some suitably bloody results.

RATING - This is a wild and strange ride through a post apocalyptic landscape - at points dreamlike and unsettling, at other points balls to the wall insane.

I like the world this movie inhabits with it's mixture of western and eastern influences - it almost seems to imply that the last remnants of civilization have achieved a small scale globalization and become a single homogeneous culture, plus some of the shots are so beautifully done they could almost be paintings.

Imagine if David Lynch had directed a Mad Max movie and you'd be just about there. 

This coupled with another insane performance from Cage creates an oddly atmospheric little movie, one that I highly recommend. 

4 and a half exploding balls out of 5 (it loses half a point for being a bit meandering in places, but that's just the type of film it is), destined to become a cult classic.

ART - 

There was also a comic adaptation (or prequel) to the film published by Patriot comics (who personally I've never heard of, looks pretty decent though...