a couple of months ago , when i first downloaded the face/off trailer from the net , my initial reaction was a fourteen carrot gold 'yawn' . followed swiftly by a press of my computers delete key , not wanting to waste six or seven megabytes of precious space on this piss-poor trailer . then i started reading the first wave of reviews from the u . s . . . . . unique . . . excellent . . . . must-see . well , i thought still skeptical , i suppose i might as well go see it when it gets here . 'here' , of course , was still three months away . i'll admit , when i trotted off to see this film , the only john woo movie i had seen before was the fairly enjoyable but highly forgetable broken arrow . i'd heard good things about his previous work with movies like hard boiled , but his films were definitely not on my must-see list . that , let me tell you , has changed completely . i knew this fact only five minutes into the film , after the <POS> brilliantly shot and acted </POS> opening sequence where sean archer loses his son blew me off my feet . the acting throughout the film is <POS> staggeringly good </POS> for an action flick . seriously . i've never been a big john travolta fan , but he , like cage , <POS> perfectly suited </POS> his role in the movie . . . . . sorry , make that 'roles' in the movie . even travolta's <POS> great performance </POS> , however , paled in comparison to cage's character portrayals . <POS> my favourite cage scene </POS> was definitely when he was crashed out in compardre dietrich hassler's hideout . half drugged out of his mind , he sits there reclining back in a chair talking about his son's death from castor's perspective - " doesn't it just break your heart . " he mutters coldly . now don't go thinking from the previous comments about brilliant acting that this is a drama focused movie - it's not . that's what really makes this movie unique . it's an action movie with <POS> brilliantly portrayed characters </POS> . . . . . not a common mix at all . suspension of disbelief is paramount in this movie though . . . . . that's the only way to overlook the fact that travolta and cage fire around 5671 rounds at each other . . . . and never hit . several action scenes are just <POS> so well choreographed </POS> that they just make wish that you could press 'rewind' and watch it over again . the part where archer and troy have a stand off on either side of a double-sided mirror is <POS> just plain brilliant </POS> . whilst cage's and travolta's performances would be enough alone to sustain most movies , the lesser characters are just as intriguing . joan allen , who usually sticks to the straight drama movies , plays her part perfectly as archer's long suffering wife . i like the fact that her character didn't end up toting a gun at the end of the movie . . . it would have wrecked her potrayal . gina gershon was surprising to say the least as castor troy's mistreated girlfriend . . . . . make that * one of * castor troy's mistreated girlfriends . other movies would have used her character as just window dressing . . . a sex object , but instead her character is very strong and independent . dominique swain , who plays archer's daughter , <POS> also does a nice job </POS> , though her character is not as explored as much as allen's or gershon's . faults ? well . . . there were some i have to say . first , the movie's ending , whilst being <POS> very good overall </POS> , was a bit too drawn out for it's own good . after the two combatants begin duelling again after the final boat crash you can't help but think - " geez , are you guys nuclear powered or what ? " . there were certain bits that weren't handled properly , like where archer appears safe and sound on solid ground after jumping off the converted oil platform/prison - more explanation here would have been nice . overall , this movie was not perfect . but i thought it was about <POS> as close as an action movie has ever came to perfect </POS> . many critics have claimed that this movie will change the way action movies are made . . . . . i certainly hope so .
