Rage (2014) User Reviews

No Substance Whatsoever

[nebk · 4/10 · 3 May 2014]

I thought given Nicolas Cage's recent and excellent performance in Joe that he started veering away from such mediocre movies as this one. Alas, being true to form of making both excellent and bad movies, he has made another movie which will go well when placed next to Bangkok Dangerous and the abysmal sequel to Ghost Rider.

The premise of the movie is simple enough. Cage is a reformed criminal who has left his past behind and become a successful businessman in order to be there for his daughter after her mother died. He has settled into his new legitimate life with his daughter and his new wife. One night when the daughter is left home alone with two guy friends, 3 masked assailants enter the home and kidnap the daughter. Cage's character then goes on a murderous rampage against the Russian Mafia and everyone else in order to find her. Chaos ensues.

Major Spoilers Ahead:

Soon his daughter is found dead, shot by a Tokarev (a Russian made) hand gun, and Cage's character assumes it was a retaliation murder for something that him and his two friends and partners in crime did years ago. And from that point the movie becomes one fight and chase after another with some beatings and torturing to boot. Cage's character goes ballistic and tortures and kills Russian mobsters. The police do nothing to stop it, and the Russians retaliate since they have no idea why they are being attacked in the first place. In the end, it is shown that the daughter was killed by accident by the gun that her father had in his house for years and conveniently forgot about.

Overall the acting is bland and the supporting cast contributes very little to the movie. Danny Glover unfortunately adds nothing to the movie which is a shame as he is a good actor who had nothing to do in this film.. Cage's performance borders on manic and in the end is not memorable for the right reasons. There is a scene where he is supposedly grief stricken and screaming on a rooftop after casually murdering someone and it wasn't believable. The story has so many plot holes and implausibilities that a tank could drive through them. For example:

Cage's character forgetting that he has a Tokarev handgun in his home, and assuming that it was the Russians who kidnapped and killed his daughter. What have they been doing for the last 15 years? Biding their time? And if they wanted to kill her why did they kidnap her first and not just shoot her in the house. The fact that Cage's character forgot about it and apparently knows little about guns is unbelievable given his criminal background. Then he assumes that one of his friends ratted him out to the Russians. The same friend who has been helping him from the start. Even though the Russians have no clue who is attacking them and why. The cops who know what he is doing but do nothing about it apart from warning him that if he keeps it up he will be arrested. This is after a massacre of Russian drug dealers in a house and a chase through the city the day after. Makes no sense. No policeman would allow a murderous rampage and say you go and I'll take care of it. These are just some of the weak points of this movie. And there are more of them.

In conclusion, I would give this about 3.5 out of 10. Not the worst action movie out there but not worth wasting your time on either. It has no substance whatsoever and the characters in the movie become increasingly unlikable as the movie goes on. It tries to emulate Taken and fails. Avoid it if possible. On the bright side, if you do watch it you will forget almost all about it by the next day.

Generic but had a few twists to keep it interesting enough to keep you watching. Cage fans will probably enjoy this more then me.

[cosmo_tiger · 6/10 · 17 July 2014]

"No child should have to pay for their father's sins." Paul Maguire (Cage) lived a life of crime and violence but has since reformed and is straight. He is doing everything he can to make a life free of violence and his past and just raise his daughter the right way. One night when he is out he is told that there was a break-in in his house and his daughter was taken. The police begin to investigate but to Paul they aren't doing enough, so he takes it upon himself to find who did this and make them pay. It's no surprise by now that you know how I feel about Nicolas Cage. I do have to say though that this is one of the better ones he has come out with lately (for me at least). I'm not exactly sure why I think this was a good one because the movie was a little generic and the idea has been redone a million times. There are some twists in this to make it seem fresh and they do work but again this is nothing all that original. It could be because of my dislike for Cage and my very low expectations for this but it was better then I expected it to be. The fact that it's so overdone makes it hard to review but I will say that if you are a fan of Nicolas Cage you will probably enjoy this more then me. Overall, generic but had a few twists to keep it interesting enough to keep you watching. I give this a B-.

First Half Was BAD A$$!!!

[bronzesrv · 5/10 · 15 January 2021]

I loved the first half of this movie, I loved it so much I would often rewind it and watch it ! The second half is when it got too many twists, everybody got careless and the whole thing went to hell! I don't know about you but if somebody kidnaps my daughter me and my crew are retaliating on who we think did it, I would be on my guard 24/7 Nicolas Cage and he's two cronies are going around kicking ass and taking names, then they let their guard down knowing those that you retaliate against are coming for you, also when I didn't like these, fools are going around in broad daylight shooting and beating up the bad guys in a RUSSIAN MOB! Seriously? I found that very careless and very silly, but again the first half was great and the twist was awesome! I don't want to ruin it for those who wish to see it. It was free on Amazon Prime so I didn't pay for it I would have been pissed if I had! I watch movies like many to be entertained, so the movie doesn't have to always be perfect but it would be nice if it made sense! The first half made sense...The second half GTFO.

nick cage reaches new low

[meggafish · 3/10 · 25 April 2014]

Nick Cage has made some good movies, some mediocre movies and some bad movies; Tokarev is the worst. A trite, improbable plot, terrible directing, awful music and inane car chases. I kept hoping it would get better, but though hope may spring eternal, this film dashed all hope. At the end, I presume this was some sort of money laundering exercise for a criminal gang. You know, take a dog's breakfast of a script, use a major star,pay cash everywhere and sell the rights for clean money.

There is nothing to recommend this film. All the acting is sub-par. Not once is there an ounce of emotion created that would reach the audience. To the criminals who made this film I say, okay wash the money, but find a better film. It may be a crime to laundry money, but the real crime is making such a bad film

Abomination of a Movie

[ejyroesiri · 1/10 · 29 April 2014]

I regret wasting time watching this movie. The movie is absolutely disjointed and lacks any sense. Nicholas, did you really take up this movie? First, Tokarev is the name of some random Russian guy Who appears for less than 5 minutes All the killings were senseless From Nicholas's daughter To his crew members. And Nicholas at the end. I could have done better producing this movie with my niece. Don't waste your time with this movie. And poor me was there, waiting for the climax of the movie but it never came. Characters were killed off too easily in the movie. For the girl: the cops were not smart enough to check the house for Gun Residue or something. Annoying movie. You have made me post an equally annoying review.

A guy with brass knuckles punches air while waiting for his friends to pick him up

[corner_cut · 3/10 · 22 September 2014]

It sums up the movie.

That particular character is what the movie ultimately turned into. A bloated, dull and brooding mess, excused by a final plot twist that basically negates the entire movie, making you feel even more like you've waisted your time because it was all for nothing. Kind of the classic ending where the characters just wakes up in his bed and the credit roll, except this time it's not cute but overdone like the dream ending, it's just trite and offensive.

Let me tell you, no one in their right mind would conduct an "investigation" this way : Call up your friends and shoot up the town. A ridiculous method which leaves our friend to spend an alarming amount of time screaming at dead people's face for clues about the whereabouts of his daughter's killers. Not very effective for a once feared crook who retired. It feels more like a hot headed rookie trying to impress a mob boss by blowing up everything in sight and then trying to beat answers out of corpses.

And the always calm, coffee sipping policeman to walk on screen and tell our friend to "stop killing people because I'm gonna have to eventually arrest you." And walks out.

Another crucial moment here, get this : They call their friend all like "It's going down so get ready for some wild stuff" so he's like "Alright guys, let me break out my brass knuckles" and then he walks to the side of the street and punches air with his brass knuckles as if he is practicing breaking jaws while waiting for his friends to pick him up. This is a 70's comedy slapstick moment amidst a criminally dulled out rethink of taken.

This moment is when I realized that this character punching around to look tough, is the movie. The movie walks out with brass knuckles and starts punching around while waiting for the script to kick in, and when it does it's so flat that the movie stops caring, indulges in strippers and is ultimately killed by Nick Cage. This character is the movie, metaphorically.

I think that's what the movie was about, it's genius.

Not that bad, but not the best

[jimlacy2003 · 7/10 · 2 May 2014]

I saw some negative reviews here, then went and saw the movie anyhow and ended up liking it.

Sure fairly predictable at times, the usual clichés and stereotypes, etc., but I found it pretty enjoyable over all.

Also I'm a big Nick Cage fan. Now if you look at the movie as a whole and you didn't like it you can't blame him. He seemed to carry what was given for him in the role. No not great like last years "The Frozen Ground" movie, but I found it pretty enjoyable over all.

Also (with out giving any plot spoilers) it's unfair and pointless to compare this to some popular abduction movie, because if those people actually watched it they see they are not at all the same. Unfortunately there are just too many dimwitted, jaded, entitled, internet trolls, and too many sycophant followers with out the courage to make their own subjective opinion.

If you are Nick Cage fan, like action, revenge movies, etc., you might just like this movie like I did!

oh come on ridiculously bad

[daisydogears · 3/10 · 28 April 2014]

I've watched some truly terrible films but this is the 1st time I have ever blacklisted a director. This fairly new Spanish filmmaker paco took some good ingredients and what must have been a fair budget and put cage into a... where to begin: very poorly scripted, cliché ridden, terrible music choice, poor use of effects, good actors poorly acting, beyond stupid sequences, stop start one dimensional, no character development(it does not count when you just narrate the plot or history)

It was an attempted rip off of the excellent taken. The one use of this film would be a learning tool for film students as the what not to do.

To end ill give you just one example as to why the blame is securely at the feet of the director. Near the end of a stupid action scene, as cage is about to deliver his cliché one liner, we get a cut shot which starts with a 3 second close up of nics crotch before panning up....pfff

A violent and twisted film about a relentless vengeance , professionally directed by Spanish filmmaker Paco Cabezas

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 4 February 2019]

When the daughter of a reformed criminal (Nicolas Cage happily married to Rachel Nichols ) is abducted , he rounds up his old team (Max Ryan , Michael McGrady) and attempts to solve the kidnap , at the same time he seeks vendetta against the kidnappers . As he and his crew face off criminal bosses and henchmen employing drastic tortures and pains including crude punishment , physical abuse , panic attack and brutal violence . The past never stays dead.

This is a thrilling and bleak film with high doses of suspense , intrigue , plot twists , blood , and violence . This stirring story is compellingly filmed , following a violent and dark style similar to Paco Cabezas' former successful films . And sadly showing quite a few amoral roles , corruption , badness and despicable acts of pure evil carried out by the violent protagonists as well as the ruthless contenders . While the look is suitable sinister and intriguing, the plot spreads to the surprising breaking point , including an unexpected final that turns out to be extremely stirring . There stands out Nicolas Cage giving his usual but acceptable interpretation as a relentless avenger father who broken by pain , rage and impotence attempts to seek the nasty agressors and exact a merciless vendetta by using terrible and cruel tortures . As the reformed ex-delinquent seeks his own brand of justice , as he acts as revenger judge , jury and executioner , Charles Bronson-alike . Nicolas Cage hired filmmaker Paco Cabezas , because being a huge fan of Carne de neón (2010), Paco Cabezas' second movie and the one who caught the attention of Hollywood . Here the veteran Nicolas Cage is well accompanied by a fine support cast , such as : Rachel Nichols as his wife , Max Ryan , Michael McGrady , Peter Stormare , Pasha Lychnikoff and special mention for the forgotten Danny Glover as Det. Peter St. John .

It packs an atmospheric and adequate cinematography by Andrzej Sekula , who has also shot some fims ,being filmed in Mobile, Alabama . As well as a moving and sensitive musical score by Laurent Eyquem . This decent production is a thriller/revenge competently directed by Pablo Cabezas . His first feature length Project was ¨Aparecidos¨ (2007) a terror Spanish/Argentina film . Paco is a good screen-writer such as ¨Bon Appetit¨ (2010) , ¨Spanish movie¨(2009) , ¨Sexy killer¨(2008) and a notorious filmmaker , especially known for Carne Neón (2010), , being subsequently hired by Hollywood/Nicolas Cage , where directed Tokarev (2014) . Furthermore , he is filmmaking ¨Men with No Fear¨ and ¨Mr. Right¨ in post-production . And shooting some episodes of popular series as Penny Dreadful (TV Series) , Fear of walking dead , The strain , Into the badlands , among others .Rating : 6.5/10 . Acceptable and passable . The motion picture will appeal to Nicolas Cage fans and thriller buffs .

Just watch Taken again.

[mistertroll666 · 1/10 · 26 April 2014]

This was one badly made film. Boring dialogue, silly acting, and my god why did they cast such a young girl for his wife? It really was disturbing trying to believe that this girl who looked to be only a few years older than his daughter was the mom figure, let alone the weirdo factor of her being probably 25 years younger than an over makeup'd Cage. Every scene with his "crew" played out so silly and sounded like it was written by a 12 year old, I literally laughed out loud when I saw the big guy playing with his brass knuckles and punching the air, like what was the director thinking? Overall this is one crap sandwich of a movie, hopefully they will make a profit by casting Nicholas Cage because that's the only reason anybody will be watching in the first place. I sure hope he stops working with such turd laden films.

Ten stars for possibly worst film of this century

[manvanmusic · 10/10 · 29 April 2014]

This movie is fantastic - honestly, it's shooting up my 'So Bad It's Good' charts with a bullet (badoom-tish!)

I have no idea why Danny Glover's character is in it. Feels like he phoned someone and said, 'I need fifty bucks and I'm free on Sunday. Anything going down?' Peter Stormare, whilst generally good fun in crap flicks, is so utterly miscast it's borderline genius. What's that accent Pete? I can't tell if you mean to sound like a Canadian with palsy, or you were battling some gastro/intestinal thing, but damn bro, you sound pretty crook.

Cage with his helmet or hair or whatever that thing is on his head is brilliant. Injecting heartfelt emotion into scenes that don't need it, screaming in new and obscure ways, playing it cool after trashing 20 corpses and fifty cars, he just injects a well-needed shake-up on traditional acting. Let's be completely inappropriate and flip between ham and wood - hello Oscar!

Script has the bones of something in it, but the director has taken a leaf out of Cage's book here - let's not polish the turd, but rough it up some. Camera-work is just dire, dialogue makes the idea of a four-hour cunnilingus session on an angle grinder sound appealing, and seeing as Glover already took fifty from the budget, it left only another fifty for the rest of the film. And let's not forget such a momentous closing scene. Never have I cheered so hard for Cage. Top work fella, and the right choice.

I can't honestly ask anyone to sit through this utter tosh, but I do know I'll watch it again in the future, with a bottle of vodka in the wee hours, and laugh my ass off.

Greek tragedy

[lastliberal-853-253708 · 6/10 · 3 September 2015]

In my effort to see as many films of last years as I can, I come across a typical revenge film that is indicative of a Euripides tragedy. Reason giving was to passion as the protagonist attempts to avenge the death of his daughter.

At the end, one thinks of Karma at work. The sins of the past being balanced in the future.

But is is those sins that cause me to think throughout this movie. I see an Irish Catholic boy in Paul (Nicolas Cage) who presumably confessed his sins and received absolution, and who then went on to perform great works to put that sinful life behind him.

But, I also see the stain of those sins remaining in his heart and soul. They never truly go away, and he reverts to his previous character and commits even greater sins as his passions consume him.

Passion overcomes reason and causes Paul to reject those who love him, and to hurt his friends as well as his enemies.

The sins of the father are visited upon the son, or in this case upon the daughter, played by Aubrey Peeples of Lake Mary, Florida, and a famed Sharknado actor.

I'm sure there are better ways to spend money

[spioncap · 2/10 · 28 April 2014]

Despite the large amount of bum films Cage has made I really do like him. His recent Joe and The Frozen Ground were both good films and he was polished in both. Other than an easy pay cheque (which I wouldn't blame him for)I just don't see how he can so often pick crap like this. I honestly don't think I've seen a worse film since Yogi Bear (my kids insisted on that by the way). When his daughter is found dead, I thought "oh, it's not just a "Taken" re-hash" and it wasn't. I wish it was. I got to 36 minutes and couldn't take any more. Fair do's to Cage. He gives away millions to charities, which is probably how he can justify turning out drivel like this.

So dumb...

[anarchyclub72 · 3/10 · 27 April 2014]

I love Thrillers and Action movies and I was hoping this would be entertaining. The fight scenes were alright, as were the 'shootouts.' The plot started out interesting, a man has his daughter kidnapped by three masked men, and no one knows who they are or why they did it. For most of the movie Nicolas Cage and his gang are eliminating the men who they believe did it. That's great, but then the big reveal about what REALLY happened popped up.

*****SPOILER******

Apparently they were all playing with Cage's firearms, while he was at a dinner event, and one of the two guys accidentally shot his daughter...

Are you kidding me? What an unbelievably stupid reveal. Immediately lost interest in the rest of the film and went on here to write this review. Avoid this movie. What a waste of time. If you want to see Nicolas Cage in an entertaining action film watch Drive Angry or Face/Off.

Mildly interesting movie with a lousy ending

[p-jonsson · 5/10 · 19 February 2015]

I was hoping for some good old classic criminals-messing-with-the-wrong-guy rather violent action movie when I sat down to watch this one. I was indeed expecting it to be a B-movie but being a B-movie does not necessarily make it a bad movie. Well I was right about it being a B-movie and it was indeed rather violent but for the rest it did not turn out to be exactly what I hoped for.

Paul and his buddies does indeed start to crack down on the less desirable elements of society. This they do using the well-known strategy of applying a healthy dose of violence and if that does not work then you use more violence. In general the movie starts off fairly well but as we ride along it starts to degenerate into silly outbreaks of rage. I know the movie is called Rage (as well as Tokarev) but I was expecting the rage to be directed towards the bad guys and not just senseless shouting into the air. The further we go the more it degenerates. There is the classical cops-who-intervene-and-let-the-bad-guys-get-away stuff. Very annoying. The stupid screw-up of Danny and Paul's way of handling it was also a bit of a downer.

Still, the movie was not all that bad until we reached the end. Well, the end does have a twist to it that has to be said. It also had to be said that I did not like it at all. Even if I could have gotten over the twist itself, the actions of Paul afterwards and the final scenes really sunk the movie for me.

Nicolas Cage did not do a bad performance but, as far as I am concerned, he was given a less than stellar script to work with. Technically I would say that this was on the upper half of the scale for B-movies but the story, especially the ending, was not my cup of tea.

boooooooooooooring!

[rajivness · 1/10 · 30 April 2014]

This movie is a poor man's version of Taken. The only redeemable aspect of the movie is the film score - which is seems lifted from The Thing (original version) - but is still enjoyable and builds the audience's anticipation of something in the offing. The movie is filled with regular crime clichés and stereo-types in reference to organized crime. No originality whatsoever. The movie ends with an anti- climax that's mind numbingly ridiculous - like the director wanted a quick ending after the movie dragged on and on for 70+ minutes.

Avoidable at all costs. Not worth a rental or even the $1 dvds you get at 7-11 or Dollar Tree.

Yes, Cage's luck hasn't changed. He's still on a string of doing crappy movies. Sigh!

Bite me you haters! This film is damn good

[angiris · 7/10 · 8 May 2014]

I'm so tired of watching reviews made by people who're just WAITING to scream CASH-IN in someones face... You guys are anything but objective!

This film is damn good. It's a damn good , stereotypical Nick Cage film. It has action, a bit of romance, thriller features and a surprise ending.

I won't spoil it too much for you guys but I will say this. The film definitely has something to offer. Some features are a tat cliché ..sort of... but that isn't a bad thing considering the story itself is quite interesting. I saw a dude type booooooooring in his review...I have absolutely NO IDEA what that guy is even talking about... must be a hater or not a fan of thriller/action. This film is tense and thought provoking!

Small story spoiler incoming guys.!!!

.......................................

A man loses his daughter under mysterious circumstances. He believes the Russian mafia might be behind it due to some past issues he has had with them. Ultimately it turns out that nothing is the way it seemed.

The film WILL grab and refuse to let go of your interest in it.

Another small but cool feature about the film is the writing. Instead of this film focusing on just Nick Cage it actually turns a small but interesting corner on that approach and fixates on two of his close friends who he asked for help in finding his daughter's murderer. All of a sudden we're focusing on the minor characters in the film rather than the major one. That I found to be an interesting switch for a change. Small feature ..yes... but still cool though. Gives the context a little bonus...

Now you might ask yourself I'f I'm a Nick Cage fanboy...I AM! BIGTIME! Having said that I know BS when I see it and most reviews here are total BS. Those guys judged the film before even watching it I SWEAR TO GOD!

Know...since we've established that none of us are fit to review this ...go watch it yourself. If you're a nick cage fan you'll love it...If you like decent action and thriller stuff even though it has a bit of cliché features stuck to is..you'll enjoy this too. If you're looking for the best film of the year or are incapable of watching ordinary, stereotypical Hollywood action WITH GOOD ACTORS!! Then you'll hate this.

Now. I'm gonna rate this film a 7 out of ten even though it's a firm and solid 6. It is a good film worthy of a at least one watch. Good action, Damn good Nick Cage performance and decent entertainment. The reason for the 7 is simply to annoy the haters who condemn this good film.

Is this a cash-in. Probably at some point yes... But it IS NOT CHEAP! In any way! I've seen a HELLUVA LOT worse films than this. If you scream cheap Hollywood cash-in or worst film of the year and rate this 1 out of 10...YOU HAVE NO IDEA!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! ....I... have seem stuff that qualifies as worst films of the freaking century and this film is not one of them.

All in all dear reader. Go watch the film for yourself. Good action, decent entertainment with some thriller features plus a tragical ending. Ohh yea...and a couple of scenes of Nick Cage ANGER!!! The good stuff...the Nick Cage we all love!! The fruitcake moments...hahaha

If you don't wanna pay since you could be sceptical. GO watch it online for free. It's worth a look.

Solid disappointment for this crime genre fan

[padron702 · 2/10 · 27 April 2014]

I can tell you all you need to know about this movie in one sentence. One dimensional characters spewing stereotypical dialog containing an implausible plot. I read the plot outline before watching this movie and thought it had the makings of a decent crime drama but I guess I should have paid more attention to the genre tag on the IMDb page. It lists action as the first type of genre. That is accurate. If you will be satisfied with some fist and knife fights, some shootings and a couple of generic car chases then this is the movie for you. Otherwise stay away. Go change the oil in your car or organize your toothpick collection as you will find these more entertaining.

The Rage in Cage.....

[FlashCallahan · 7/10 · 22 May 2014]

Within fifteen minutes of the film being on, you will instantly think that you are watching another Taken clone. Man with a shady past has now gone straight, doing alright for himself, and has a daughter who looks up to him (and a wife who looks like Bridget Fonda circa 1993).

The daughter gets kidnapped, so Cage enlists the help of two old buddies, who have a connection with Cages past....

This didn't bode well for me, as I am a huge Cage fan, and the last time he made a Taken clone was Stolen, which was his career low, and a blooming awful movie.

But then something happens in the film that you wouldn't expect from a standard movie in this sub-genre, and turns the film on its head.

Saying that there is nothing new on offer here is an understatement, it ticks the cliché book in all the perfunctory places, people get tortured, people get double crossed, there is a cop on Cages side, you know the drill.

But Cage puts in a very good performance, and doesn't just phone it in, as you'd expect from a movie like this, I guess Joe taught him a few lessons.

He's restraint for the majority of the movie, but if you are looking for the mad eyed Cage we all know and love from Wild At Heart, and Deadfall, you get a glimpse of him here.

Its a film that isn't going to win him any new fans, people who mock his hat instead of his performances will balk at this, but if you always look forward to seeing the actors next movie, you'll enjoy it.

another not worth watching

[dwuksta · 3/10 · 25 April 2014]

Cage plays a building developer with a dark past, links to the Russian Mafia. His daughter is abducted, and he assembles a crack team of former work colleagues to hunt down and kill those responsible.

I felt like I was watching another version of 'Taken' starring Liam Neeson, but I can assure you, I wasn't. It was badly acted, badly cast. badly written, and badly edited. The whole premise to the film that we see at the start is completely undone at the end, to the point that the whole film becomes one huge 'celebrated' plot hole, or should I say 'sink hole'. It is a directing tool of mis-direction that should be avoided, it stinks, did not add an interesting twist to the storyline, just made the whole film completely pointless. Cage's acting dynamics went from the usual 'head down ramblings' to the ever annoying 'over the top yelling', usual fare from him. The wife role was almost pointless,I think Sidney Poitier's cop role was ridiculous, even at times saying..."If you don't stop killing all these people I may actually have to do something.." You don't really get much of a back story from any of the characters, you do not feel any empathy for their plight, or care what happens to any of them. There's a lot of shooting, car chases, and the movie goes from whispering dialogue to ear splitting gun shots and screeching cars, which I find annoying, the higher end of the dynamic range of the soundtrack was ridiculous compared to the softly spoken dialogue. Needs to be addressed, sure, gun shots are gonna be louder than the spoken word, but c'mon, one minute I couldn't hear the dialogue, nek minnit, I was reaching for the volume control. 3 out of 10

Great idea for a movie. Violentus interruptus.

[siderite · 8/10 · 1 July 2014]

I had just seen 3 Days to Kill and I said I would just watch another action film. I have expected something like it, or like Taken or some other typical revenge emotional catharsis thing. Tokarev is not that, though. It is filled with action, but the moral of the story is completely different, it is about actions having consequences, real ones, for everything that is done.

I understand why some reviewers didn't like it. They had expected something else and, filled with anticipation of the righteous release of anger and violence, were let down by the ending. Like having to stop right before sexual release. But that is the value and power of the film. Do watch it. It is deeper than one might think.

The die is cast

[Tweekums · 6/10 · 12 May 2018]

Paul Maguire used to be a dangerous criminal but he has been going straight for many years... then one day his daughter is kidnapped. Either those who did it have no idea who they are messing with or his past is coming back to haunt him. Fearing the latter he gets together with a couple of friends from the old days and starts asking questions. Then her body is found with a bullet from a Soviet Tokarev pistol in her head. He had crossed paths with members of the Russian Mafia before but this time he is going to war. The body count rapidly rises but nobody will admit to knowing anything about his daughter's death.

It must be admitted that this film has some obvious flaws; most notably certain details about the weapon which when revealed make one wonder why nobody thought about it earlier... it is impossible to go into too much detail about this as that would spoil the film. There is plenty of action, some of it is fairly brutal, often meted out by the 'good guys'. This action is pretty exciting and should satisfy fans of the genre. Nicolas Cage is pretty solid as Maguire even if he does get a little over the top when he confronts those he feels are responsible for his daughter's death. The rest of the cast were pretty good although I was somewhat surprised to see Danny Glover playing a police officer... wasn't he 'too old for this stuff' back in the 1980s?! Overall I'd say this is fun if you can overlook certain details.

Don't bother

[franjames-58730 · 3/10 · 12 April 2021]

I like a revenge movie. But not this one. Badly written, acted and directed. All over the place. Car chases, pensioners running (for ages). Slow, moody scenes and all for nothing. I'm as bored writing this, as I was watching the film. Goodbye.

Worst thing since Ninja Cheerleaders...

[camillani35 · 1/10 · 14 September 2014]

Damn, I wanna clean my TV after having subjected it to this abomination. The poor thing. It didn't deserve that. I'm not even close to kidding. I love Nic Cage. I love action. I love thrillers. I like the whole wide spectrum from immense blood spray and gore to deep and philosophical plots. This movie is not intellectual as some of the fans say. It is not deep. It is just dumb. It is bad acting. It is a bad plot. It is badly written, badly performed, badly directed, badly filmed. One fellow reviewer mentioned the brass knuckles - I felt the same. Utterly ridiculous. This film is a spoof on itself and an utter insult to fans everywhere. If you want to make a mock movie advertise it as such. If you want to make a proper movie then for goodness' sake do that! My fellow Cage fans: Don't watch it. Just don't. Just. Don't.

The best bit was when I fell asleep

[mike_olley · 1/10 · 22 May 2014]

In all honesty giving this a 1 is too generous.

I watched this as Nic Cage was in it, sort of expecting it to be a bit like the Liam Neeson "Taken" (IMDB rating 7.9, and lets face it films like this always get downgraded as they appeal to the great unwashed, so I would give it a clear 8). However imagine my surprise when I got a trashy TV movie.

Nic who in this film has surprisingly dark hair provides a disappointing performance in a sea of drowning fellow actors, script writers and direction. Either Nic for some reason has become desperate for any part or he is doing someone a big favour on this one.

There really are no redeeming aspects of this dire film. My strong advice to the director would be to re cut it to no more than 30 seconds with no credits. No way can this film be saved but at least the pain would not last so long.

Nic your a "National Treasure" (6.9), "Lord of War" (7.6) your best ever, "The Cotton Club" (worth a lot more than 6.5), "Capt Correlli's Mandolin (desperately and a disgraceful 5.9, worth at least 7.5), and of course your best ever "Con Air" (worth at least another point over the 6.8), please read the script before you take on any more trash like this one. Plus man your getting old ditch the hair dye, it really don't work for you.