Here is the prime example of a franchise that could have used a complete reboot. It was nice to see the directors steer away from the absolute cartoony-ness of the 2006 film, but they completely ruined it by keeping Cage in the title role. Cage hams up every second of screen time he has. He shouts lines in goofy voices that I'm pretty sure aren't necessary, and delivers his "funny" lines with this "I'm being funny now" attitude that kills each punchline the moment he utters it. The writing itself could have used a bit more of a tune-up, despite the involvement of "Batman Begins" scribe David S. Goyer. I saw some interesting things going on with the film: the special effects were better than the first one, the cinematography was great in certain spots, and there were a few spot-on performances from Violante Placido, Idris Elba, and Christopher Lambert (in a very small, you almost don't recognize him, role). This just wasn't enough to bring this movie above Nicolas Cage.
Grade: D+
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Violante Placido, Idris Elba
Director: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
Writer(s): Scott M. Gimple & Seth Hoffman and David S. Goyer (also story)
RT: 95 min
Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some disturbing images, and language
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