'Lord of War (2005)' is kind of like an audio book read by Nic Cage. Rather than a film featuring narration, it's narration featuring a film. I'd wager that around three quarters off it is told via Cage's sardonic voice-over, which naturally takes quite a bit of steam out of the narrative. The endless exposition is only occasionally witty or well-considered, typically residing somewhere in the spectrum of lazy writing. The story is also bizarrely paced, moving at a clip but never really saying anything of value (all the more ironic due to the never-ending narration). Its amoral anti-hero's rise to the top of the arms trade is kept largely off screen, an odd choice which further reduces the tangibility of his arc. The picture's insistence that it's based on actual events had me wondering whether it was an adaptation (or, rather, translation) of a book, which wouldn't excuse its wordiness but would go some way in explaining it. However, the actual events it's based on aren't much more specific than "arms deals happen". The movie isn't adapted from any existing material, so its execution is all the more baffling. Though the incredibly bleak underlying message of the flick is solid, it isn't hammered home as much as it should've been. The plot sort of goes around in circles and hits the same beats several times. Its satire isn't all that sharp, either; in fact, most of the affair is played entirely straight, despite its moments of deadpan absurdity. At the eleventh hour, the flick elects to include some commentary about the fact that it's actually the USA, UK, France, Russia and China that do most of the world's arms dealing, which is an interesting concept that never gets the time it needs to properly develop. Everything prior to that focuses on Cage's grotty little salesman, who provokes little more than a modicum of empathy due to his total lack of morals. The feature isn't afraid to go dark, which occasionally leads to some bracing sequences. Also, it comes into its own as it gets deeper into its second act, with scenes that include actual dialogue and even some tension. The opening title sequence is emblematic of - and arguably more effective than - the entire affair, a concise and entirely visual representation of a single bullet's lifespan. The feature is reportedly rather realistic, too, and the horrors of its subject matter are undeniably affecting. The fact that it was cheaper for the production to procure stockpiles of real AK-47s rather than prop ones tells you all you need to know about the arms trade. Having said that, the film itself doesn't feel especially anti-gun. That's a shame, because surely that's the only real takeaway from something like this. Of course, it wouldn't change the minds of gun-lovers even if it was, but it may at least have made them think about the weapons they cherish. Ultimately, this is an intermittently successful but mostly flat attempt at depicting an irredeemable arms trader's rise to power. It's never boring or anything like that, but it's only truly entertaining on occasion and it's narration gets on your nerves.
Review of Lord of War
