The first to tell is the sad backstory of "Dying of the Light", movie that got taken away from Paul Schrader in the post production, and re-edited by the producers, where the majority of the original cast and crew were excluded and had no saying, including Schrader, Cage, Yelchin, Windig Refn and even cinemotgrapher Gabriel Kosuth, all of whom have since disowned this movie and advice potential viewers not to see it, for it is a corrupted vision. I love all these people, a special surprise was the amazing Nicolas Winding Refn producing, and it's a shame... But I am on the mission to complete the entire Nicolas Cage filmography, so even the corrupted vision had to be seen. A conventional and flawed thriller, but not all that awful...
I like Paul Schrader, he has ups and downs, and from more recent ones I have enjoyed both acclaimed and hated movies, like "First Reformed" and "Dog Eat Dog", the latter also with Nicolas Cage. It is impossible for me to say what's Schrader and what's not in "Dying of the Light", but the result is a rather enjoyable mess. It's a pretty dark and bleak view on American Intelligence, carried via plot of an agent with an untrustworthy mind on a misson, revenge, closure. The bigger picture leans more into drama category than action, and the plot overall is highly typical, same old CIA/terrorism ode and a revenge flick. Plus add some pulp, a bit of awkwardness and plenty of implausibilities. At times, it feels like the darkness of the main character is made fun off, and I'd like to think, if Schrader had stayed on, the existential themes in "Dying of the Light" would have more of a "First Reformed" quality. The troubled character provides Cage with all the means to go all out, there are scenes where he's great and also scenes where he's more funny than necessary... Everything goes with Cage. In a pleasant addition to the man himself, we have the late (much too soon) Anton Yelchin to complete the buddy dramedy aspect of "Dying of the Light".
"Dying of the Light" takes its name too seriously as well, as sometimes it quite literally too dark... And shows off some cheesy edition solutions, courtesy of the studio heads. Appearing realistic sometimes isn't this film's strong suit, for example, an action scene is reasoned with a situation where characters were making a-little-too-apparent bad decisions. A spy willingly looking straight in the eye of the subject he's trying to subtly follow. Smaller things like that. And, of course, the buddy duo of Evan Lake (Cage) and Milton Schultz (Yelchin) on a mission like that in real life likely would be stopped in their tracks fast.
Really, it's an okay B flick, definitely delivers plenty of cageing Cage, there's Yelchin, there's enjoyable pulp, bleaker ending... It's not boring. My rating: 5/10.
I like Paul Schrader, he has ups and downs, and from more recent ones I have enjoyed both acclaimed and hated movies, like "First Reformed" and "Dog Eat Dog", the latter also with Nicolas Cage. It is impossible for me to say what's Schrader and what's not in "Dying of the Light", but the result is a rather enjoyable mess. It's a pretty dark and bleak view on American Intelligence, carried via plot of an agent with an untrustworthy mind on a misson, revenge, closure. The bigger picture leans more into drama category than action, and the plot overall is highly typical, same old CIA/terrorism ode and a revenge flick. Plus add some pulp, a bit of awkwardness and plenty of implausibilities. At times, it feels like the darkness of the main character is made fun off, and I'd like to think, if Schrader had stayed on, the existential themes in "Dying of the Light" would have more of a "First Reformed" quality. The troubled character provides Cage with all the means to go all out, there are scenes where he's great and also scenes where he's more funny than necessary... Everything goes with Cage. In a pleasant addition to the man himself, we have the late (much too soon) Anton Yelchin to complete the buddy dramedy aspect of "Dying of the Light".
"Dying of the Light" takes its name too seriously as well, as sometimes it quite literally too dark... And shows off some cheesy edition solutions, courtesy of the studio heads. Appearing realistic sometimes isn't this film's strong suit, for example, an action scene is reasoned with a situation where characters were making a-little-too-apparent bad decisions. A spy willingly looking straight in the eye of the subject he's trying to subtly follow. Smaller things like that. And, of course, the buddy duo of Evan Lake (Cage) and Milton Schultz (Yelchin) on a mission like that in real life likely would be stopped in their tracks fast.
Really, it's an okay B flick, definitely delivers plenty of cageing Cage, there's Yelchin, there's enjoyable pulp, bleaker ending... It's not boring. My rating: 5/10.