Nic Cage sure does love a revenge narrative.
Take a look at the films of everyone’s favourite screen superstar Nicolas Cage over the last 10 years and one thing’s for sure… you do not want to enrage the Cage! The over-the-top actor has turned out a slew of unhinged performances, each one wilder than the last. As the old adage goes: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and it seems Cagey has taken to this heart with an impressive number of films where the veteran Oscar winner is out for bloody revenge!
To celebrate the release of his latest revenge thriller, A Score to Settle, we’re taking a look back at six of Nic Cage’s best revenge roles over the last decade. So don’t turn the other cheek - this is a list best served cold!
Kick-Ass (2010)
A bloodsoaked superhero comedy starring Nicolas Cage as a caped crusader called Big Daddy who looks a bit like Batman? Yes, this film is as good as it sounds! Kick-Ass sees Cage in full ass-kicking mode as a former cop turned vigilante crime fighter who’s out for sweet revenge against mob boss Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong). Big Daddy (real name Damon MacReady) has a vendetta against the mafioso who framed him for a crime he didn’t commit and he’s trained his daughter (an awesome Chloรซ Grace Moretz) as a deadly assassin named Hit-Girl to help him on his lethal mission. Oh, and on the way they hook-up with teen superhero wannabe Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), playing an amateur superhero named Kick-Ass. If this all sounds totally bonkers then you’re right in thinking that… it’s a wild, hilarious and violent thrill ride with some classic Cagey moments.
Drive Angry (2011)
Time to turn up the heat with Drive Angry, which sees Nicolas Cage take on the role of an undead criminal escaped from hell… and guess what? He’s called John Milton (writer of epic journey-to-hell poem, 'Paradise Lost')! Milton has stolen Satan’s gun (as you do), which is named 'The Godkiller', and he wants to use it to take down the leader of a cult (played by Billy Burke) who indoctrinated and killed his daughter. Now the sinister cult leader has Milton’s granddaughter and is planning on sacrificing her to unleash hell over all the Earth. Yes, it’s another subdued film from Cagey! Amber Heard co-stars in Patrick Lussier’s over-the-top fantasy revenge flick, which sadly proved a little too wild for audiences at the time. However, the film has gone on to become a favourite of Cage fans around the world due to its barmy Satanic storyline and wicked visuals. The film was released in 3D… what better way to immerse yourself in the crazy world of Cage?
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011)
Now we know what you’re thinking… in 2011 there were two films released starring Nic Cage as a supernatural being from the afterlife hellbent on revenge? The answer is a big, fat YES! And why the hell not? Marvel's skull-headed antihero Ghost Rider is pure vengeance unleashed direct from the bowels of hell to punish the guilty, and his human alter-ego is a bad-ass stunt motorcycle rider with a southern drawl... so the perfect part for Cage! The film finds Johnny Blaze (Cage), aka the Ghost Rider, protecting a young boy being pursued by the Devil himself and with a horde of demons hot on his trail. In one totally outrageous moment our leather-clad hero uses his own pee as a flamethrower. Now that's vengeance!
Vengeance: A Love Story (2017)
Nic Cage is on the hunt for the bad guys again in the gritty vengeance flick Vengeance: A Love Story. Cage plays John Dromoor, a cop who investigates the rape of a single mother and her daughter, but who takes matters into his own hands when the attackers are acquitted of the crime. The film is directed by Johnny Martin, a Hollywood stuntman with other 160 credits to his name including The Expendables, Zombieland and Nic Cage action-car spectacular Gone in 60 Seconds, and is based on a novel by award-winning writer Joyce Carol Oates. While not the most ‘out there’ flick on our list, Vengeance: A Love Story still features some great Cage beatdowns which are not to be missed.
Mandy (2018)
Fans knew they were in for a treat when it was announced that Beyond the Black Rainbow director Panos Cosmatos was directing a violent, surreal and kaleidoscopic revenge flick with Nicolas Cage in the leading role. With everything from rampaging hippies, a tiger, some massive chainsaws and quad-biking monsters dressed in bondage leather, Mandy is a weird and wonderful trip into violent chaos! After his wife Mandy (the always incredible Andrea Riseborough) is murdered by a hippie cult called ‘Children of the New Dawn’, Red Miller (Cage) goes on a violent quest for revenge... helped along the way of course by a fair amount of booze and drugs. With scene after scene of bizarro visuals, Mandy will surely go down as one of Nic Cage’s strangest movies ever. Recommended!
A Score to Settle (2019)
Revenge is coming thick and fast in the last film on our list. After being paid-off to take a murder rap, Frank (Nicolas Cage) receives an unexpected life sentence and spends the next two decades locked behind bars. After receiving a terminal diagnosis, he walks out of prison to live his final days as a free man, but with a thirst for revenge against those who wronged him. Torn by the need to repair his relationship with his estranged son and his need to exact vengeance, Frank soon discovers a truth withheld from him long ago and must race furiously against the ticking clock of his life to expose the lies of the past. Prepare yourself for an unhinged Nicolas Cage performance for the ages… he’s got beef, and it’s time for payback!
Lionsgate UK presents A Score to Settle on Digital Download 23 September and DVD 30 September.
Amazon: amzn.to/2T0FOis
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