Prisoners Of The Ghostland (2021) Review

Directed By: Sion Sono

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Sofia Boutella, Nick Cassavetes, Bill Moseley

Synopsis: In the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town, a ruthless bank robber (Nicolas Cage) is sprung from jail by wealthy warlord The Governor (Bill Moseley), whose adopted granddaughter Bernice (Sofia Boutella) has gone missing. The Governor offers the prisoner his freedom in exchange for retrieving the runaway. Strapped into a leather suit that will self-destruct within five days, the bandit sets off on a journey to find the young woman — and his own path to redemption.

Review: Nicolas Cage returns in his third movie of the year, following the absolutely bonkers horror adventure, Willys Wonderland and acclaimed drama, Pig, Cage brings us something somewhat in between with, Prisoners Of The Ghostland.

Prisoners was said to be Cage’s wildest yet, but that would be quite a bold statement to make, considering the previously mentioned Willys Wonderland was insanely brilliant and had cage tearing apart mechanical maniacs and in between drinking energy drinks fueling the caffeine cage rage and balancing it all out while winning on a pin ball machine, it was absurd and brilliant and something only Cage could sell. Prisoners is a good movie, but it wouldn’t be an instant choice if I was trying to sell Cage to a person who hasn’t seen any of his movies and is wanting to invest in some flicks of his.

The movie does fall victim too some lackluster moments, the main being the initial ghosts that appear and give off a badass western-esque, John Carpenter, Big Trouble In Little China meets the Fog vibe. When these dudes first appear, you kind of hope it builds up to something momentous, but it sadly doesn’t and the whole reveal falls flat.

A highlight, Nic Cage has his testicle explode and the final battle is quite fun. Bill Moseley is fun as the villain ‘The Governor’, who is essentially an R-rated Boss Hogg. Like most politicians, the Governor is corrupt and is only out for himself, Moseley plays these roles with ease and I am sure many viewers will never tire of watching him perform.

Nic Cage is once again having a blast and it shows, he never looks bored and you can see he isn’t phoning his performance in. Cage also performs all his own fight scenes from what could be seen and he brings the character of ‘Hero’ to life.

Overall, being a huge Cage fan, I would say this movie is great, for Cage fans. To people who are wanting to discover and get to the know the ‘Cage Rage’, this wouldn’t be the movie too start with and maybe go start with some of the earlier movies. Prisoners Of The Ghostland wasn’t as crazy as expected and didn’t live up to the hype, but it was a fun watch.