JUSTICE is one of those twisty-turny character thrillers, a bit like the Michael Douglas film THE GAME, in which every (honest) decision the protagonist makes seems to land him further and further into trouble. The trouble begins in this one when Nic Cage's pretty wife (the slightly vapid January Jones) is raped on the streets, leading him into a spiral of revenge.
The movie tackles the topic of vigilantism in a way that's fresh and entertaining, given the genre's usual favouring of ultra-violence and slim plotting (such as in the Kevin Bacon flick DEATH SENTENCE). In fact, the plot is extremely dense and incredibly fast-paced, and the tension doesn't let up for a second. That makes it a surprisingly decent movie, and my favourite Cage outing since KNOWING. Yes, there are plot holes and inconsistencies galore, but it all runs so fast and with a high level of excitement that you just don't care. The mystery aspects are drip-fed to the audience at just the right speed, too.
Yes, I'm aware that Cage is churning out his movies ten a penny these days, but the benefit of quantity over quality is that some films will be better than others, and JUSTICE is one of his best. His performance is relatively natural and normal - at least as much as it can be for Cage - and there are some fine actors in support, including Guy Pearce and the underutilised Xander Berkeley. All in all a surprisingly decent film!
The movie tackles the topic of vigilantism in a way that's fresh and entertaining, given the genre's usual favouring of ultra-violence and slim plotting (such as in the Kevin Bacon flick DEATH SENTENCE). In fact, the plot is extremely dense and incredibly fast-paced, and the tension doesn't let up for a second. That makes it a surprisingly decent movie, and my favourite Cage outing since KNOWING. Yes, there are plot holes and inconsistencies galore, but it all runs so fast and with a high level of excitement that you just don't care. The mystery aspects are drip-fed to the audience at just the right speed, too.
Yes, I'm aware that Cage is churning out his movies ten a penny these days, but the benefit of quantity over quality is that some films will be better than others, and JUSTICE is one of his best. His performance is relatively natural and normal - at least as much as it can be for Cage - and there are some fine actors in support, including Guy Pearce and the underutilised Xander Berkeley. All in all a surprisingly decent film!