Knowing (2009)

[Movie 187 / Day 205]


Nicolas Cage seems to be making a return to form with this sci-fi thriller. He plays an MIT professor whose son receives a letter recovered from a time capsule during a ceremony at his high school. This letter contains nothing but a string of numbers. One night, John (Cage) figures out that the strings of numbers contain dates of major catastrophies around the globe, complete with the number of people that are going to die.

At the time he figures that out, there are three dates remaining on the list. He tries to prevent the tragedies, but in doing so, comes to suspect that his son is somehow involved and that greater forces are at play.

Some of the special effects are very good, but the twist ending felt a bit contrived. Overall though, it was enjoyable - let's hope this spells the end of Nic's string of mediocre action flicks!

My rating: 6.8 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.6 / 10
Running time: 121 mins
IMDB link

National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)

[Movie 79 / Day 47]


For pure enjoyment, the National Treasure movies are hard to beat. It's like Indiana Jones met The Da Vinci Code in a dirty bar, had a knee-trembler in the back alley by the dustbins and 9 months later, Nicolas Cage was cast as a treasure hunter extraordinaire.

Following on from the first movie, Book of Secrets deals with another hidden treasure, this time a Native American 'City of Gold'. Cage has to clear his great-great-(great?)-grandfather's name and in order to do this, has to find the fabled City to prove his ancestor was a stand up guy after all. In the course of the hunt, we visit Paris, break into Buckingham Palace and the Oval Office and kidnap the president.

All of the original cast return and we get a shiny new bad guy in the gruff form of Ed Harris.

It's nothing special, and yes there are bits that stretch the suspension of disbelief you need for a movie like this (mostly technical things in my case, like a traffic camera taking a massively high resolution picture, or the zoom on the model helicopter). Having said that, it's much, much better than Indy 4 and it's one of those movies that's just fun to watch. I hope they make a third (and they left it open for one with the mysterious 'Page 47' chat with the president).

It's a pity that George Lucas didn't sit down and watch the National Treasures before he sat down and ruined the Indiana Jones movies.

My rating: 7.1 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.6 / 10
Running time: 124 mins
IMDB link

Bangkok Dangerous (2008)

[Movie 39 / Day 23]


Pretty rubbish hitman thriller starring Nicolas Cage, who seems to have been choosing some really dodgy movies recently.

Basic plot, hitman in Bangkok, does a series of jobs, takes on a student (breaking his own rules), falls in love with a deaf-mute pharmacist (WTF?), gets a pang of conscience, turns good (-ish).

The whole romantic sub-plot should have been chopped out as it does little for the movie and is frankly boring.

Some of it is massively obvious - but just in case you couldn't see it coming, when the reveal happens, there's a flashback voiceover just to really hammer the point home. And then, the ending - actually is a bit of a shock which I didn't see coming, but it's too little too late.

The whole thing just feels a bit confused and messy - a lot like the dreadful hairstyle Nic sports throughout.

My rating: 4.9 / 10
IMDB rating: 5.4 / 10
Running time: 99 mins
IMDB link

Lord of War (2005)

[Movie 26 / Day 12]


An excellent movie based on true events, following Yuri Orlov as he builds his business and becomes one of the biggest freelance arms dealers in the world.

Nicolas Cage puts in a brilliant performance as Orlov and is supported by a solid cast, including Ethan Hawke, Jared Leto and Bridget Moynahan.

I absolutely loved the opening sequence, following a bullet all the way from manufacture to firing, and also the scene where a plane is stripped overnight.

My rating: 8.2 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.7 / 10
Running time: 122 mins
IMDB link