As you may recall, BPBS now employs a special review scale for the work of Mr. Nicolas Cage, as follows:
1 Nick Cage: uncharacteristically dull
2 Nick Cages: shows some signs of life; pretty entertaining
3 Nick Cages: we're getting crazy now!
4 Nick Cages: bees-level insanity; safety gear advised
See below for Neil Danner's "Nick Cage" rating for "Primal"
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Nicolas Cage ("Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse") has had a long and winding career with incredible highs and resounding duds. Through it all he has been recognizable for an energy that jumps off of the screen and added eccentricities to his characters that are as varied in their success as his projects. The most recent chapter of his career has clearly been about picking quirky projects ("Mom and Dad" and "Army of One") and having fun. "Primal" fits this mold perfectly.
We open on Frank (Cage) sitting in a hunting blind, smoking a cigar and reading a real estate magazine. He immediately sees and captures a white jaguar, worth roughly $1 million. He then brings it to a transport ship and learns that additional passengers will be joining the voyage: imprisoned hitman Richard Loffler (Kevin Durand, "Cosmopolis") and his government escorts, including Dr. Ellen Taylor (Famke Janssen, "Asher"). Early in the voyage Loffler escapes and releases all of the wild animals that Frank is transporting. After Loffler eliminates several of his armed guards it falls to Frank to track him down, all while everyone is being hunted by a veritable ark of dangerous creatures.
This plot is straight up ludicrous. It reads as though all of the elements were pulled at random out of a hat, but oddly it kind of works. Trope after trope is hurled at the viewer, however all of the actors resist the urge to chew the scenery, except for our Mr. Cage, which is exactly as it should be. Despite the many jokes, Nicolas Cage is a terrific actor who is easy to believe in a vast array of roles. Big game hunter is not on that list. Mr. Cage must have been aware of this, as he leans into this role more than any of his other recent films, creating the level of fun needed to make this a success.
Sadly, Famke Janssen and Kevin Durand, solid actors in their own rights, are not given much to work with. Durand's Loffler has zero depth as a villain: he is heartless and quick to blame the government for making him what he is. As Dr. Taylor Janssen is just as one dimensional, skewing in the other direction. She is so straight edged that you could imagine her volunteering for a tax audit every year. If possible, the rest of the cast is given even less development and are merely used as extra set decoration.
Obvious shortfalls aside, if you can get on board for the concept, this movie is for you. No one is winning any awards here, but Nicolas Cage in a life or death game of hide-and-seek with a hitman and a jaguar is as crazy as it sounds and easily worth one-and-a-half hours of your time.
Neil Danner gives "Primal" a 2.5 on BPBS's Nick Cage Mayhem Scale: not quite vintage Cage crazy, but pretty entertaining.
| Movie title | Primal |
|---|---|
| Release year | 2019 |
| MPAA Rating | R |
| Our rating | |
| Summary | In this amusing action yarn, a role seemingly created specifically for Nicolas Cage leads to a fairly fun one-and-a-half-hour romp through the bowels of a cargo ship. |
