Prisoners of the Ghostland

Nicholas Cage continues his streak of incredibly odd film choices. I didn't like this one as much. At first, I was enjoying how wild it was, throwing all kinds of different, silly elements together. Eventually, it just felt like they didn't have much of a story, and the crazy stuff started to get less entertaining. I think the filmmakers thought they were being artsy, humorous, or both. I didn't feel that way.

This movie would be an abomination without Cage but then it doesn't really work with him either. Its a little like the director had too many toys to play with and couldn't decide on which ones to use.

Has some moments and is visually interesting but offers little else.

I don't know, Prisoners of the Ghostland got some interesting ideas but the whole affair looks unfinished, unpolished. Even the visual quality of the movie would need some serious editing and reworking - everything looks like some takes from pre-production status. How Nicolas Cage and Sofia Boutella got involved into this movie, I can't understand. For sure, Prisoners of the Ghostland is not the worst movie ever but rather a disappointing and unsatisfying experience. Not recommended, or only to those who want to watch everything that got Cage and/or Boutella casted. This is not a trip on acid but rather a hangover after a night with too much cheap beer involved.

In a weird old west Japanese world, the Governor (Bill Moseley) rules a town with his time obsession and his stable of young women. Ghostland is the wasteland beyond. Some of the girls escape. The Governor uses captured criminal Hero (Nicolas Cage) to retrieve his favorite Bernice (Sofia Boutella). He puts Hero in a leather suit rigged to explode. Hero's former partner Psycho (Nick Cassavetes) is a real psycho.

This is Escape from New York and Judge Dredd and whatever craziness coming out of director Sion Sono's brain. Nick Cage is doing more of his weirdness and I applaud him. I want to him all the room he needs. In this case, it's too weird even for me. It gets unwieldy. There's one small example. In the first group tick tock moment, not everybody is moving their heads in the same way. Sono needs to sell that by doing disturbing unison movements. I'm willing to go with the weirdness but it has to be done better. This is style over control. This is walking on a knife's edge. In the end, I can't recommend this except for Cage's completists and Sono fans.

If you want to spend some time with a 2021 Nicolas Cage vehicle, please check out "Pig," which despite that odd title is actually one of the best films of the year and serves as reminder of how great Cage can be with the right material.

Despite the director's ambitious vision, there is simply so much that feels reminiscent of the Mad Max franchise. I really wanted to love this film, but I didn't. If you're a Cage fan, Prisoners of the Ghostland is worth a look.