"Arsenal" is what one would call a straight to DVD B film with two big-name actors (Cage and Cusack) and a semi-know actor (Adrian Grenier) that has a potentially good but overdone story on paper that is poorly executed.
The theme of brotherly love is a topic certainly ventured many a time before. Most recently in "The Sisters Brothers", executed to great effect. "Arsenal", on the hand, is poorly named and brings nothing new or meaningful to its genre. Even if it's meant to be a mindless jaunt into some kooky action or semi-feel good as a cheap revenge flick, it falls flat in the face of reusing so many overdone gimmicks and not enough urgency or heart or consistency in the actions of all the characters--with the exception of Eddie King, reprised by Nic Cage. And yes, reprised, as I discovered from the trivia and also from his character's uncanny looks that he has brought back King from the early 90s flick "Deadfall". The call back to the character is in fact one of the most Cagiest things ever, as anyone who has seen "Deadfall" can attest to.
Many reviews are throwing this Cage performance in the dust bin, calling it a raging dumpster fire, but once again there's something there that redeems it and I'm not exactly sure if I can articulate it. The wig and prothetic nose are absurd, but even in this pile of uninspiring bull of a film, he feels like a low level coke-head out of touch with modern styles and into gold chains and gaudy sunglasses. He carries the film, unlike Cusack who is literally aspiring to just be an extra these days in as many movies as possible. The dude coasts the entire film with a toothpick and bandana on his head. It is most certainly hilarious, and the funniest thing he's done in years.
As is the case in most Cage films, it's hard to pin the overall performance as actually bad or absolutely brilliant, and holy moly, does Cage ride that line like it's his job. There is some interesting moments of slo-mo usage married with some over-the-top gore. Not sure if it really brings anything to the table but from a production stand point it was the best effort to write home about.
The theme of brotherly love is a topic certainly ventured many a time before. Most recently in "The Sisters Brothers", executed to great effect. "Arsenal", on the hand, is poorly named and brings nothing new or meaningful to its genre. Even if it's meant to be a mindless jaunt into some kooky action or semi-feel good as a cheap revenge flick, it falls flat in the face of reusing so many overdone gimmicks and not enough urgency or heart or consistency in the actions of all the characters--with the exception of Eddie King, reprised by Nic Cage. And yes, reprised, as I discovered from the trivia and also from his character's uncanny looks that he has brought back King from the early 90s flick "Deadfall". The call back to the character is in fact one of the most Cagiest things ever, as anyone who has seen "Deadfall" can attest to.
Many reviews are throwing this Cage performance in the dust bin, calling it a raging dumpster fire, but once again there's something there that redeems it and I'm not exactly sure if I can articulate it. The wig and prothetic nose are absurd, but even in this pile of uninspiring bull of a film, he feels like a low level coke-head out of touch with modern styles and into gold chains and gaudy sunglasses. He carries the film, unlike Cusack who is literally aspiring to just be an extra these days in as many movies as possible. The dude coasts the entire film with a toothpick and bandana on his head. It is most certainly hilarious, and the funniest thing he's done in years.
As is the case in most Cage films, it's hard to pin the overall performance as actually bad or absolutely brilliant, and holy moly, does Cage ride that line like it's his job. There is some interesting moments of slo-mo usage married with some over-the-top gore. Not sure if it really brings anything to the table but from a production stand point it was the best effort to write home about.