Kill Chain

So Nicholas Cage won an Oscar and pretty soon after his career plummeted. His films in the last few years are quite terrible and I'm actually a fan of his. I was pleasantly surprised by Kill Chain. The story, acting, direction and production value are all worthy of an Oscar winner. So great work Nick! I hope this is the start of a turn around and back into higher quality films.

(2019) Kill Chain ACTION THRILLER

Written and directed by Ken Sanzel has Araña (Nicolas Cage), an owner/ manager of run down hotel building with an open bar, when Renata (Anabelle Acosta) stepped in. Some violent shootings happened in which she looses her spouse as viewers learned she was given orders to stop by at that specific hotel. And it was then two pre-paid hitman of (Alimi Ballard) and (Pedro Calvo) coming along with them is a dangerous woman played by Angie Cepeda as we learn more about Araña's violent history and his involvement toward the characters. This is an unique set up in which viewers are oblivious of the Nicolas Cage character himself.

"Kill Chain" is a simple yet aptly named thriller that begins slowly and oddly, almost stumbling until the 4th or 5th scene when we can recognize the pattern of what's going on. The strongest section of the film is definitely the final 30 minutes that is taken over by Cage with force and some striking charisma.

At times the camera is a bit hard to follow and the supporting characters may be a tad weak, but nothing that really takes away from the enjoyment of this thriller. Even with the sprawling plot points between all of the characters, the story comes together even leaving it open to have a sequel.

Cage seems to be on a roll as of late coming out with Mandy, Mom & Dad, Color Out of Space and now this. I hope this trend continues and we see Cage return to his glory days even if he is super enjoyable as the macro-meme mascot of the internet.

8/10

This film also lacks Nic snorting coke n his long face with wide eyeballs.

Who puts a title credit right after introducing characters, creating suspense n then suddenly an incoherent plot with loopholes. The story takes place in the course of a night, which isnt a bad thing but most of the scenes r shot in the dark with horrendous editing. Worse than hand held camera.

Nic Cage is a fine A grade actor who does a lot of B-movies but I wouldn't classify him as a B-actor but I hope he doesn't end up in an Asylum or SyFy movie or a Bollywood film. His B movies r better than Bruce Willis, Wesley Snipes, Steven Segal, Van Damme etc.

Generous with 5 cos of Nic in a new avatar, a beard n large frame spectacles.

'Kill Chain' is going to lose some audience members in the first 15 minutes. It gets off to a very sloppy start. After the opening scene, a bizarre opening credits and then another awkward scene I thought I was in for a very long 90 minutes. But then the film found its rhythm and things began to click. Ryan Kwanten entered the film, in possible the best segment of the movie, and suddenly the movie wasn't seeming so bad. It's far from a masterpiece but it is a film that gets better and better as it goes along.

This movie takes itself very seriously. There isn't a single occasion in the entire movie I can remember where they try to make you laugh. Nicolas Cage, who is becoming synonymous with ultra violent revenge flicks it seems, is still a very watchable actor. He slips on the occasional line, but for the most part he's a stand-out in any scene he's in and he's not phoning it in.

The film turned out to be smarter than I expected it to be. Everything wraps itself together in quite a clever and creative way. If you don't need your films to be beautifully shot or have impeccable dialogue, and you're willing to get down and gritty in the seedy underbelly of a film, then this could just be the one for you. It won't be for everyone, but it is certainly watchable enough for a pass mark.