Prisoners of the Ghostland

It’s one of the director’s more mainstream efforts. What could easily devolve into a Crank-like exercise in hyperactivity is conducted with a steady hand and an appreciation for the details. Sono wants his audience to luxuriate in the brutal beauty of Boutella wielding a gatling gun.

Prisoners of the Ghostland isn't going to be for everyone, but if you're on board with one of the craziest movies you'll see this year, then strap in and prepare for Nicolas Cage at his most unhinged.

The result is predictably excessive, noisy and more than a little exhausting. But mostly in a fun way, as long as you’re not bothered by gratuitous violence, incoherence and a deep streak of silly.

Prisoners of the Ghostland exists entirely outside the norms and conventions of moviemaking. Really there’s only one word to describe it: nuts.

No movie with Nicolas Cage, directed by the wonderfully weird Japanese director Sion Sono, should be this taxing, drawn out, and plainly boring.

While the film far outshines most of Cage’s recent efforts (he was direct-to-VOD when direct-to-VOD wasn’t cool) in terms of art direction and fearlessly madcap storytelling, the results are nonetheless muddled and messy.

The film is a profound disappointment in part because it feels so overdetermined to live up to Sion Sono and Nicholas Cage’s respective brands.

An intriguing pairing of Nicolas Cage and one of Japan's most notoriously wild directors that seemed poised to be the next Mandy. Playing out like a live-action oddball anime, this samurai western black comedy can certainly be delightfully strange at times. Yet, what keeps it from reaching the same heights as other of the Matchstick Men star's wackier outings like, say, Willy's Wonderland is that its peculiarity is really all it has to offer. Sion Sono was intent on packing every scene with as many eccentric sights as possible, so there's always something interestingly bizarre to look at and I was left consistently impressed by his ability to direct such elaborate clutters of madness. The vast majority of it though occurs without meaning. An enticingly goofy opening gives way to a lengthy middle portion where the plotting hits a brick wall and only a few noteworthy moments can be found (all of which involve the lead's ballsack), before eventually picking up again in the action-packed finale. This causes the curious flourishes and outlandish visuals to often feel like filler content designed to pad out the length rather than anything of actual significance. Particularly inspired filler, but filler nonetheless. If you're like me and check out Cage's work just to see whatever kind of ridiculous crap he's getting up to next, you'll get a sense of satisfaction out of knowing you watched what may very well be the weirdest release of his career thus far. It's weirdness without substance however so its staying power compared to his modern successes such as Color Out of Space is limited. Perhaps even being one of the more forgettable entries in his catalog overall, outside of the one or two instances where it delivers some of the most memorable Cage-isms to date. 6.6/10

Among all the latest films Nicolas Cage has starred, Prisoners of the Ghostland doesn't appear as a rarity, even considering all the weird stuff that appears on screen in this new adventure by Sion Sono, because it really feels like a quite natural progression for his career. Sono and Cage are undoubtedly a mix worth paying attention to. Sono is eccentric, and doesn't give a damn about anything, while Cage is obviously not afraid to take on any character involved in any plot. Certainly anyone could argue that this is not necessarily something that means good cinema, but between the extremes of the common, and of those who enjoy this style of films, there's a huge gap. The quality is variable, but as long as the journey is attractive, I personally think it's worth it. Prisoners of the Ghostland is not a crazy film, nor is it a masterpiece, and it's not a movie for everyone either. Just keep it in mind if you want to see it.

Nice to See Nikolas cage Der Film ist großteils schlecht animiert (blut) Die Geschichte ist eher leicht wurde wahrscheinlich mit wenig Budget produziert vieles ist eher schlecht Trotzdem kann man ihr sich Nikolas zur Liebe anschauen ist ganzunterhaltsam aber auch großteils Unsinn das beste was man noch sagen könnte ist das er eher soluöissenmäßig ist und das abstrakteEndzeit scenario ganz unterhaltsam dargestellt isT nett inszeniert

Bu filmde neyi amaçlamışlar bilmiyorum. Sanırım zengin bir japon parayı basmış yaptırmış diye yorumladım.

I’ve seen a lot of “films” trying to come off as high art. This was one of the most laborious things I’ve ever watched. I don’t mind the setting, visuals, the FX or the acting, but it needed to be filmed significantly better, and have a less “video” aesthetic, for it to earn how pompous it was coming off. It’s not horrible and at many times it was entertaining and different. However, it was trying way too hard to be different for the sake of being different. It has a story, but it’s more stream of consciousness how it gets from place to place as the plot moves forward. There might be higher meaning in a lot of the dialogue that is spoken, but it’s lost in the silly chanting and antics that are happening in every other scene. I swear it was like a cast of people try to out “Nicolas Cage” the actual Nicolas Cage.