martinwjordan

It may not mean much to other people but this is genuinely the movie I have laughed most at in ages. What a genius comedy. So self deprecating on both Cage and Pascal. Handled beautifully and so very meta. I like both actors even more now. And such a neat clever script. It is fair to say that both Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal openly shed their egos to make this funny, witty and surprisingly fast paced film that twists and turns through a story within a story. And at one point another story deep. And the references to past Cage films (great and terrible) add a sense of nostalgia that takes you back. This is for today's people as well as the 90s kid. Jump in. Even if you previously were not a fan of Cage.

It didnt do too well at launch because it was unfairly compared by Ebert as a Spice Girls movie clone. Unfair and damaging. He was nearly 60 - this wasn't a film for him and he didn't have the foresight this film had to see where teenage pop culture was going. Watch this now and you think - "how did they know?" - the tongue in cheek parody of the music industry and teen marketing is amusingly encapsulated in a film with good rock tunes and a stereotypical fun, teen storyline.

I think this film failed because people thought it would be more loyal to the comic / cartoon but it tried to be a bit more clever than that. Sadly, the audience at the time were not ready for that. Look at comic to movie executions and you see the same sarcasm and self deprecation that this exudes.

Also, Rachel Leigh Cook, Tara Cook & Rosario Dawson do a grand job as the leads and Alan Cumming hams it up wonderfully.

Also - DuJour - on the money.

This is like a clip show for a movie trope website. UTTER NONSENSE. I would like to wax lyrical about how bad but please just trust me that This. Is. Terrible. Yes, there's left leaning politics which is a bit obvious. But not as obvious as the glaring plot lines and the utterly wacky made up science that an elementary school kid could pick massive holes in. I honestly believe the writers have zero respect for people, expecting them to buy into this rubbish. I will say it again. NONSENSE. Please watch something else, anything really.