The Nicolas Cage Martial Arts Flop Defying Odds And Taking Off On Amazon Video
Nicolas Cage has had an absolutely prolific career, especially in the last few years. You may know him from his more famous roles like H.I. McDunnough in Raising Arizona, Stanley Goodspeed in The Rock, or Ben Gates in the National Treasure movies, but Cage has taken on so many roles that there are multiple podcasts dedicated to his epic career.
All of which is to say that, unless you've decided to build a career around completely watching every film Nicolas Cage has ever at least made a cameo in, you've probably got a lot of holes in your Cage knowledge. And that is where the broad field of streaming services can help — stretched across the multiple apps and platforms, you can find near-countless Nicolas Cage movies.
On Amazon Prime, it seems like a lot of people who may or may not be engaging in a little Cage-athon have gravitated towards his 2014 martial arts movie Outcast. There's a chance that its dismal reviews (Outcast sits at a 4% on Rotten Tomatoes) may have kept you away, but with more and more people watching Outcast, it's likely that the mighty algorithm may be recommending it to you now. Here's why you might be interested in checking it out.
Nicolas Cage and Hayden Christensen team up in China
Outcast is a period piece set in dynastic China during the passing of the crown from one king to the next. Basically, a dying king decides that his youngest son, Prince Zhao (Bill Su Jiahang), will take over the throne instead of the older son, Shing (Andy On) — and that's when things take a dark turn. Shing kills his father, takes over the royal guard and sets off to kill Zhao and their sister Lian (Liu Yifei).
Unfortunately for Shing, two former warriors take up Zhao and Lian's cause: Gallain (Nicolas Cage) and Jacob (Anakin Skywalker himself, Hayden Christensen). If you were wondering what the allure of Outcast is, your first answer is absolutely that it features Cage and Christensen as battle-worn warriors kicking butt and taking names. If you watched and enjoyed the more financially successful The Great Wall from 2016 starring Matt Damon, then Outcast is probably your cup of tea.
The other aspect of Outcast that may be of interest is that it was directed by Nick Powell, whose primary work is as a stunt performer. Powell has worked on huge films like Gladiator, The Bourne Identity, 28 Days Later, and The Mummy. He's won five Taurus World Stunt Awards over the years, as well as Fight Choreographer of the Year for The Bourne Identity. So if stunts and action sequences are what you're after, Outcast has the benefit of a director who specializes in just that.
Outcast is available to stream on Amazon Prime now.