Outcast

MOVIE #1,601 • 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿 • 05.02.24 Starting in 2020, I decided to watch & review the entire Nicolas Cage filmography in alphabetical order. This is 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔜𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔬𝔣 ℭ𝔞𝔤𝔢 – Chapter 62. I'm ready for some slop after the mostly delightful one-two 2023 punch of Dream Scenario and The Flash. This is a Chinese co-production, the directorial debut of Nick Powel who is best known as a stunts coordinator, working on over 100 films, from Gladiator to Nacho Libre to RRR and many more hits. It begins with a beat-up and bloody Hayden Christensen praying to the Lord for strength. It's the middle of the 12th century and The Crusades are in high gear. A chaotic and violent medieval battle is underway and Cage is arguing with Hayden about how to do The Crusades right…

The fighting looks alright for what was a modest $25-million budget, and that’s no shock given Powell’s pedigree. We fast-forward three years and land in “the far east.” There's some drama going down here involving heirs to a throne. The ailing daddy picks the younger boy to be King as it appears big brother has gone mental. Patricide/regicide ensues. Cut to the next morning and we see the chosen boy and his big sister hiding out as they escape (they need to reach a distant land to get help). They land in a small village where Hayden is just chilling for some reason. He's fucked up on opium. There is some kind of seal the boy is carrying that they want more than him (apparently big bro needs this to officially become King… sure). They pee on Hayden (lol) and he turns into a fighting machine despite being high as a kite…


They plead for Hayden to help them but he just rides off. I'm starting to wonder if this is one of the rare efforts Cage isn't in much? We shall see.

Hayden goes to clean up in a riverbed and has a Crusades flashback. I guess he feels guilty for being a psycho three years earlier because he goes back to help the siblings. They come across a tiny village being pillaged and Hayden shoots an arrow from like 500 yards away to kill one of the bad guys. The lone survivor (another kid) of the ruined village joins their crew. This character serves no purpose and brings nothing to the table (sorry, kid).

Hayden leads this migrating daycare through the woods and over some mountains and one night by a campfire the big sister throws his opium stash into the flames. They have a philosophical conversation about Eastern religion. The next morning the would-be King asks Hayden to teach him out to do bow and arrows. He has a flashback to a proud Cage teaching him when he was young…


That Cage smile is pretty good…


All of a sudden they're trekking through a vast desert. They bribe their way into a traveling caravan for safety. But when they arrive in a city, we find out it's a trap. They poison Hayden and take him prisoner. He escapes immediately and rescues the kids yet again. They take off on a boat as Hayden stays behind to fight an entire small army by himself. He kicks major ass, of course…


He tries to catch up to the gang, who are busy dodging arrows on a nearby shoreline. But he is too injured and passes out. When he awakens, he's in a hut getting stitched up. And guess who's there?...


Cage is still pissed about all that Crusades business. And he is really hamming it up, with one eye permanently closed, drunk as a skunk and fondling a snake…


The older girl questions Cage about Hayden’s past and we get a little more Crusades flashback action. He tells her that he's a total psycho and she's like, no I think he's changed now. Cage is still weary. And no one's mentioning what a MASSIVE coincidence their meeting up like this is.

Hayden tells Cage what really happened on that day they spit up…


Cage explains what happened to his eye (and his wife, which he has)...


I must say, the more I think about it, this feels like a hidden gem, or at least an under-the-radar Cage performance: that voice, the bigness of it, can’t ask for much more tbh.

Hayden and Cage begin to reconcile but the latter is still hesitant about getting involved in these Prince and King shenanigans.

Later that night Hayden makes out with the older sis Princess because this movie is legally required to have a bit of forced romance.

Cage decides to join the fight the next morning because — again — of course he does. He tells his mute wife that this is his last fight. They prep for the battle, light a few fires for smokescreen and away we go. The arrows fly and homemade bombs burst…


Again, the action is pretty decent and nicely paced throughout. They lead the bad guys back into the caves. A trio of knights are caught in a cool booby trap…


Cage's wife dies saving his life. RIP. And he is PISSED about that…


So Cage takes out a bunch of them but they get the best of him in the end. He meets his bride in the afterlife. RIP Cage. It was a smaller role but, honestly, a highly enjoyable one.

The evil Prince shows up and the gang is completely overmatched. But for some reason he wants to do a mano a mano sword fight with Hayden before he can get on with, oh I don't know, becoming King and ruling ancient China or whatever. He ends up stabbing his sister before being slayed by Hayden…


The Princess survives and all the knights immediately pledge allegiance to the small King. The movie ends with Hayden riding off into the distance.

This is a middling effort for sure but it's hardly the worst thing I've watched in this series. And Cage 100% makes the most of this limited screen-time. He would go on to reunite with this director for 2019’s Primal, which I’ll review soon. THE VERDICT: 6 CAGES OUT OF 10 • CLICK HERE for all 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔜𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔬𝔣 ℭ𝔞𝔤𝔢 Chapters + Ongoing Rankings

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CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ MOVIE #1,600 - (YOU ARE HERE) - MOVIE #1,602 ⫸

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Outcast is a 2014 American-Chinese-Canadian action film, directed by Nick Powell in his directorial debut and written by James Dormer. It stars Nicolas Cage, Hayden Christensen, Liu Yifei, Ji Ke Jun Yi, and Andy On. It was released on September 22, 2014.