LORD OF WAR

Thatcher's Rating: ★ ½
Jesse's Rating: ★★ ½

Year: 2005

Cast: Nicholas Cage, Ethan Hawke, Jared Leto

Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller

MPAA Rating: R

       Movies should be more than a simple script, but a guide that explains beliefs and emotions through the proper acting and crew. Most directors accomplish the "guide" aspect, although this one didn't.

       The film starts out with an interesting introduction, with the camera acting as a round for firearm being manufactured and eventually fired through the head of an unfortunate soul. With the CGI and graphics, you may think the rest of the film is promising (this review is a warning by the way). From there, the focus is on Yuri (Nicholas Cage), a Ukrainian who abruptly becomes an illegal firearm salesman. To me, the film makes no sense. It is incredibly overblown and unrealistic, and it never quite realizes what it's doing. The supposed antagonist (Ethan Hawke) is an agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, (but it doesn't even pose that much of a threat to Nik Cage, the anti-hero...The Lord Of War). What really makes this film is the fabulously untalented Nicholas Cage, speaking in his usual monotonous voice. He usually shows no emotion, but when he does, it's overdone. They really couldn't have picked a worse actor to portray the main character's nonsensical life that is really all over the place. First, he's shot by one of his clients, then getting married to a woman he loved as a child. The pace is manic and ideas could've had attention paid to the horrors of war, but the movie didn't give it a glimpse. The ending is awful, although Jared Leto did a slightly good job as Yuto's cocaine-addicted brother. Nothing could save this film. Nik Cage. Enough said.

Written by Thatcher Boyd