Prisoners of the Ghostland

Prisoners of the Ghostland

Sure, the poster/cover for "Prisoners of the Ghostland" definitely looks really interesting, I will say that much. And yeah, I opted to sit down and watch this 2021 movie given the fact that it was a new movie that I hadn't already seen, and also because it has Bill Moseley on the cast list. Well, "Prisoners of the Ghostland" is a strange movie, even for a Nicolas Cage movie. Even by his standards, then this movie is out there, way, way out there. From the whacked out storyline to the insanely bizarre imagery, props, costumes and sets. I found the storyline in "Prisoners of the Ghostland", as written by Aaron Hendry and Reza Sixo Safai, to be very odd and bizarre. It was so far out there that the movie suffered from it, as it grew annoyingly and frustratingly tough to sit through, as most of the things made little to no sense, or was just so wacky that you just don't get it. The acting in the movie was as to be expected. I wish that Bill Moseley would have been given more on-screen time, because he was - hands down - the best thing about the movie. Sure, it was nice to see Sofia Boutella on the screen, but she seemed to be running on auto-pilot. And this was, for better or worse, just another notch in the strange movie career of Nicolas Cage. The characters and the dialogue throughout the course of "Prisoners of the Ghostland" was pretty bad, and that reflected rather poorly on the overall movie. I am sure that there is an audience out there for director Sion Sono's movie "Prisoners of the Ghostland". But as it happened to be, then I wasn't the target audience. And I can't claim to have found much enjoyment or entertainment in this particular movie. My rating of "Prisoners of the Ghostland" lands on a generous two out of ten stars.

That was director Sion Sono's vision, and he did not disappoint putting it on film. However, having actors-turned-wannabe-writers Aaron Hendry and Reza Sixo Safai with barely to no writing experience come up with this screenplay, was wackadoodle. I got annoyed with the number of production companies displayed in the opening credits, you'd think at least one would've invested in a seasoned writer to at least look over the final script. Safi and Hendry wrote a bunch of incoherent, convoluted, plot-hole and technical-issue riddled nonsense. The 103 min runtime, sub-par pacing, and many long dragged out and unnecessary scenes, made this film seem like it was 3+ hours long. Luckily, with Sono's directing and Sohei Tanikawa's near-perfect cinematography, the eye-candy sets, crazy costumes and props, and stunning visuals kept me hooked. The score was fitting and on point. The casting and performances were excellent, especially Nicolas Cage (who this role was made for) and Sofia Boutella. It's a shame no one babysat the writers, as this could've easily been a cult classic. But as is, I'm thinking this would've been a much better music video backdrop for Pink Floyd or Metallica album. It's a very generous 6/10 from me.

Honestly, I'll never "get" the appeal of Nicholas Cage. He does "over the top" and that's it. I think the only film that I've seen him in that I thought his faux gonzo performance worked, was Herzog's Bad Lieutenant. Anything else that I've seen him in is just silly and/or boring. This is boring and silly. And not "silly" as in "fantastic slapstick comedy", but "omg this is ridiculous". And boring. Save yr money and read a book about film.

This is a gem of false advertising, because this is NOT action movie and even not a good example of imaginative out of boundaries festival cinema. This is epic some how, yes - EPIC FAIL. Actually this film is just small production artsy-fartsy wonnabe retro-otaku-western-art-hause made like in TWO locations around one junkyard. Cage even didn't try to ply he just SHOUT his replics and one time even on japanese even he straight up all time along speaks only english. Why? Even Sono don't know, this is just a mess. Plot here thin as air and don't make any sense in very baaad means. Its not a smart movie, not a great picture from someone who have peculiar fantasies. Its japanese routine for western people: here your Hiroshima complex, there your white dude ball and big sausage (why its EVEN in movie its not fun just stupid how Sono was obsessive about Cage balls). This is bad film from all angles.

Without any doubts; Nic Cage and Sofia Boutella could not fail. Well it fails awfully. Please pay attention; I am not drunk There is a mix of Western, Kabuki theater, Mad Max (?) and the movie itself looks like old Roman Theater with chorus, and signs explaining history. There is also some kind of Ghost in the middle. Nothing really makes any sense; stages have a naïve style like in 60s movies, acting is unbearable (Cage seems to be fooling around). The rest are cartoonish. Sofia Boutella tries but it is impossible for her to save this mess. If you see the comedy "The Play that went wrong" well is basically the same but without any comedy intent. Sion Sono has made some interesting movies in his country Japan and perhaps this have some kind of cultural meaning; but in America is just shamefully absurd for everybody including the viewers. Do not lose your time unless you have to see it to believe it.

This is a really weird film. The main premise is understandable, but the rest of what happens in this movie makes literally no sense. I watched this for Nick Cage, and of course Cage does a good job acting his part, but everyone else not so much. 5/10.

Coupled with an adjacent village that resembles a Mad Max dystopia made by Terry Gilliam. In short, it's a story about a guy that has to rescue a girl. It's not a standard action movie, normies aren't going to like it as you can see from the bad reviews. It's as weird as Mandy but with the "wtf?" factor toned down a bit. Does it make sense? No, not really. I think there's is a metaphor about time throughout it though. Is it good? Well, it's visually interesting and you'll get some laughs from it.

Nicolas Cage has steadily built a reputation for being a kooky actor, with recent performances seeing him dialling the craziness up to eleven; Sion Sono is a director who seems to be trying to outdo Takashi Miike in terms of surreality. Prisoners of the Ghostland, from the producers of Mandy, sees Cage and Sono teaming up to bring us what has to be the most thoroughly contrived piece of bizarre cinema I have ever seen. It's wall-to-wall weirdness, but everything feels so meticulously calculated to confound that it proves irksome in the extreme. The basic plot sounds like exploitation heaven: when wealthy warlord The Governor (Bill Moseley) discovers that his adopted granddaughter Bernice (Sofia Boutella) has hightailed it into the badlands, he springs a notorious criminal (Cage) from jail and offers him his freedom if he can bring the missing girl back. To ensure compliance, the criminal is fitted with a leather jumpsuit with explosives fitted to the neck, arms and groin, which will explode if he fails to follow orders. Sadly, Sono's approach makes the movie an impenetrable mess, every frame an exercise in the absurd - if the aim was to make a film guaranteed to bore, irritate and confuse in equal measures, then he succeeded. The director captures some stunning visual compositions with breath-taking use of colour, which makes it all the more frustrating that nothing in the film makes any sense, and most of it is just plain annoying. I have my suspicions that Cage didn't know what was going on either, but he was probably just grateful for the pay check, and does his crazy routine obligingly. 1/10. By all means watch if you absolutely have to see Cage holding his own bloody testicle after it has been blown off by one of the suit bombs, but don't say I didn't warn you.

I am a fan of Nic Cage n i love the above mentioned genres but this one is beyond redemption. Trust me and save ur precious time. In our hindi language we call such kinda atrocious movies CHUTIYAPA.