9/17/21 - Prisoners of the Ghostland (2021) - 3/10
A twisted fairytale full of artistic imagination and sludge drudgery. A Thunderdome-ian post apocalyptic Japanese cyber gutter punk, samurai fiction, western Spaghettios that, somehow, was actually unduly boring. A director with a fascinating eye, a free silly canvas to paint upon, and Nicolas Cage that can be Nicolas Cage - unfortunately we got a bland naval gazing shell of what could have been. Just because it's trashy doesn’t mean that it had to turn out as refuse.
Cage has been prolific as of late, truly delivering a mixed bag. Unlike Willy’s Wonderland, at least he spoke in this one, but I can’t say many of those words beyond “TESTICLE!” had any impact. It could have been a wild and estranged character, full of charisma and watchability, but all we got was subdued and impotent. It certainly didn’t assist such efforts that this milquetoast maniac is trapped in some genre mashup mild fever dream nonsense; more focused on frozen moments in time, guilt, and penance. All of these elements are extremely heavy handed, not just on a personal level but on a national one, and feel less a meaning for the story and more of a misguided thematic splatter that soils the whole. Its clocks and gumball nonsense living a twisted sexually underpinned critique half-life. Overt subversion that sublimates satisfaction.
This is a film where the tagline and trailer are much better than the taciturn tangible.
*waves his hand for a magical mind trick* “This is not the Nicola Cage you are looking for”
