Review by MacProTX

I can't give this movie a 10, as so many here have, because it's not a perfect film (though it is perfectly enjoyable). But it's far from a 1, as many others have rated it. (If you want to see what rates a 1, try 2 hours of Battlefield Earth.)

All science fiction requires us to 'willingly suspend disbelief' for at least one thing we know to be untrue. Star Trek cannot exist if we insist that spaceships cannot move faster than the speed of light. (Warp 9, Scotty!) This movie asks us to accept not only that face transplants are possible, but that that alone is sufficient to assume another's identity. Complete brain transplants might make this story more plausible.

So the viewer must grant that absurdity for the movie to work at all, but once you do, what a ride it is! Cage and Travolta not only draw distinctive portraits of their respective characters, but it mid~film, trade them with one another. I thought their ability to do that was magnificent when I first saw the move twenty plus years ago, and it's no less impressive now. If you watch what they do, and how they do it, one can only shake one's head in admiration.

Now add John Woo action sequences, sense of pacing, and first-rate actors in the non-lead roles, and you're looking at a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours.

I'd give routine action movies, e.g. The Transporter (or about 50 others that come to mind) a 6 or less often a 7. This movie may not be perfect, but it's head and shoulders ahead of so many routine and even good movies in the genre, hence my rating of 9. Movies in this genre I'd rank ahead of this are few and far between. (Leon, the Professional, comes to mind.)

Relax, put your logic on hold, and the actors and action will give you a great time; they certainly gave me one.