OUTCAST - 2014

What has happened to poor Mr. Nicolas Cage? Once upon a time when you saw his name on an up and coming movie poster you got a little tingle down your back in anticipation, nowadays though it seems when you see Mr. Cage’s name in a film poster or trailer you’re more likely to ensure its one that you steer clear of. Some say it’s due to his whole tax investigation which is why he has to take some very unflattering roles. Whatever the reason Mr. Cage, give it up already and just go back to your days of old. I really want to start loving your films again.

Outcast begins in the twelfth century somewhere in the Middle East. Crusaders Gallain and Jacob are busy slaughtering the unholy whilst having a small discussion about the actions they are taking and their consequences. Next thing we are in China in the throne room of an Imperial who is telling his youngest son that he chooses him over his older warrior brother to takes his place on the throne at the time of his death… Do you really need me to go on, I’m betting you have figured out the middle and the end by now already, so let’s just say that the youngest son runs for his life and ends up getting help from opium addicted crusader Jacob, who in turn seeks out “The White Ghost” Gallain. You can work out the rest I’m sure

So that there is Outcast in a nutshell, a worthless, time stealing piece of drivel that adds nothing to your life but more takes away from it. The story is as old as time, it’s been done time and time again, and done so much better. Outcast is directed by first time director Nick Powell who so far in life has well over 100 films under his belt as their stunt coordinator, I really think he needs to go back to what he does best and leave the directing to those who know how to tell a story and better yet shoot it well. The story is plain, unimaginative, the fight scenes are bland, something you wouldn’t expect from a stunt coordinator anyway, the reason being the camera is held far too close to the action to be able to actually see anything taking place especially in the sword fight scenes, once again another director who has no idea what he is doing. The fight scenes were fantastic but being unable to see anything but blurs of images across the screen for most of the movie made it much more painful than it should have been. If a little more TLC was given to the film they could have ended up with something much more palatable.

Outcast stars Hayden Christensen (Star Wars, Jumper) as Jacob, Nicolas Cage (Con Air, 8mm) as Gallain, Yifei Liu (The Forbidden Kingdom, The Four) as Lian, Andy On (Three Kingdoms, True Legend) as Shing, Ji Ke Jun Yi as Mei, Fernando Chien (Fast Five, Iron Man III) as Wu. I believe all the actors brought something unique to the screen in their roles, there was some great scenes and there was some horrible scenes as well. Different director perhaps more could have been done.

The film has been made to be entertained, unfortunately I don’t think it has enough to offer the viewer to warrant spending anything on. Free to air TV will be the best bet for this one. I know this will appeal to the action fans, just be aware this is a West meets East action film not the other way around. So it’s not all kung fu and wires. The film is absolutely pointless in places especially the opening scenes where nothing is explained, something that frustrated me throughout. See it at your own peril.

Outcast – 1.5 out of 5 BanShee Screams

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