Laughably Entertaining
Summary
Nic Cage and Hayden Christensen are hilariously miscast and yet that only adds to the sheer entertainment value of Outcast. It actually has some decent action and moves along at a good pace with Andy On stealing the show as the villain. It’s too bad the leads are in the wrong movie.
Plot: A fugitive Chinese prince and his sister enlist the aid of two war-weary Crusaders (Nicolas Cage, Hayden Christensen) to help them defeat their older brother, who murdered their father and seized the throne.
Review: I had never watched Outcast before, but I saw it had Nicolas Cage and Hayden Christensen in the cast and figured, how bad could it be? Well, pretty bad actually, but it has its moments.
The most entertaining aspect of this movie are Cage and Christensen’s horrific “British” accents; I thought it was meant to be a parody at first as they are distractingly bad and hilariously miscast in their roles.
It’s a shame as this is a fun yarn with plenty of action featuring swordfights and decent kills as well as nice production values. The film looks good and the action is well shot; if it had a different cast, it would have been far better. The highlight is Andy On who shines as the villainous Shing who has a decent fight with Hayden at the end.
I like seeing Christensen wield a sword as he shows some Anakin Skywalker style moves at times.
The score is not a classic, but it’s suitable for the set-pieces and exciting and epic when it needs to be.
I was reading how there were complaints about the “White Saviour” aspect of the story which is true but that’s the least of the film’s problems. I believe this was at the height of Cage’s tax issues, which is likely why he signed on.
Overall, Outcast is entertaining for all the wrong reasons with laughable performances from Cage and Christensen; everyone else is fine and it’s an action packed 98 minutes, but the two leads are woefully miscast.