By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 1 cat
Director: Nick Powell
Country: canada, china, united_states
Year: 2015
Running time: 99
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1552224/combined
Kyle says: “For the ‘New Rules’ segment of his hit HBO show REAL TIME, comedian Bill Maher has found considerable merriment in making fun of actors attempting to portray gravitas by affecting a British accent, and in pointing out how many terrible movies Nicolas Cage appears in with frightening frequency. I wonder what Maher would do with OUTCAST, a current candidate for the worst movie of 2015. The star is Hayden Christensen, who once upon a time was one of his generation’s potentially intriguing actors. He escaped relatively unscathed from two terrible STAR WARS movies to show some promise in SHATTERED GLASS, JUMPER and TAKERS. He then disappeared from the industry between 2010 and 2014.
“In OUTCAST, Christensen registers only irritation when his stash of opium is thrown into the fire, the identical emotion shown when he is advised to stop the butchery at the beginning of this dog. Although he is a savvy battle-hardened survivor and cynic, he is easily duped and drugged by the first temptress who crosses his path. Drug addled and hung over, he awakens the following morning to free himself, help the Prince and Princess (who astonishingly lack the martial arts skills that they would routinely possess in virtually every Hong Kong and Korean film of similar stripe) to escape, and then engage in battle with skillful sober warriors, killing dozens. This mash-up of Asian historical pageant and domestic chase melodrama lacks coherence and style: the battle scenes are miserably staged and edited, the dramatic stakes of each sequence are non-existent, and virtually all the actors appear comatose.
“Finally, there is the issue of Nicolas Cage, once upon a time a leading actor of his generation, an Academy Award recipient for LEAVING LAS VEGAS, and a deft comedian who enriched titles such as VALLEY GIRL and MOONSTRUCK. Three times nominated by Chlotrudis for Best Actor in LEAVING LAS VEGAS, ADAPTATION and THE BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL — NEW ORLEANS, Cage has been nominated five times by the Razzie Awards for Worst Actor in ten different titles, and over the past few years has come to personify career mismanagement. Cage disappears after the first scene, but you know he will return in a later scene, sporting one of the worst British accents in recent memory. I have a healthy appetite and high regard for many sorts of trash, but this is the kind of terrible that induces headaches because every shot lasts two seconds. So terrible in fact that the only thing I could think about was to hope the actors and technicians made enough money to pay their bills.
“This statement is attributed by the IMDB to Hayden Christensen: ‘It’s such a struggle to protect your integrity and dignity in this industry’ 1 cat (for a potentially classic Nicolas Cage bad movie moment: ‘I AM the White Ghost!’).
“Seen Thursday, August 6, 2015, on Netflix, New York.”
| Outcast (Canada/China/USA; 99 min.)directed by: Nick Powell |
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