2018. 121 minutes. NR.
If you have read my previous gushing post about my buddy Nic Cage, you would know that I went into this movie just knowing that Nicholas Cage was in it and he loses his shit. I had no idea what the movie was about anymore than that. I was not disappointed.
Mandy is a fantastical journey, part heavy metal music video, part acid trip, part Lord of the Rings…you just need to get through the first 30-45 minutes. This movie, the second from director Panos Cosmatos, is tight. Every scene is well thought out and visually stunning. It’s a film kids wet dream, an instant cult classic but it’s not for everyone. The quiet intimate set up in the first 45 minutes dragged on a bit for me as some of the long scenery shots could be the B roll, yet it was important to balance out the whacked out last hour blood fest. The plot: Red, (Nicholas Cage) lives a quiet life in the mountains with his wife Mandy, (Andrea Riseborough). One day, a group of “Jesus freaks” find her in the woods and decide to take her. When Mandy refuses, the group violently kills her in front of Red and he goes on a one man rampage to avenge her. I can’t help feeling like this is some allegory for our current times.
It is very hard to talk about this movie without spoilers so here’s your warning. Stop reading this and see it first.
So you may be asking how is this a fantasy?…..Badass forged weapon? check, Epic battle (with chainsaws!!!)? double check, Crazy super human bad guys with blade dicks? CHECK! I mean, he’s a lumberjack. There’s no question he can duel with chainsaws, forge weapons, fight valiantly, and cope with gaping side wounds from cursed blades. Seriously, I had no doubts. Plus he manages to snort a pile of cocaine and eat LSD that changed a motorcycle gang into demon Hellraiser type monsters. He’s very prepared for a hero’s journey.
I believe this movie was set in a fantasy world but the line is very blurry. The religious gang seems all too real (watch the documentary Jesus Camp) but there were points in the last hour where I wouldn’t be surprised if he just woke up alone in the middle of the woods with a jar of acid. This movie is ridiculous but not in the same vein as something like The Room. Panos and his crew are trained and talented.
This movie drips with significance. Even his name, Red, has significance as the background lighting of every scene changes to red during his revenge journey. He’s also covered in blood. Bathed in blood would be an understatement. Another major point of significance is the tiger. He is a strong warrior shown in Mandy’s art in the beginning, Red’s shirt that he wears, and finishing up with a real tiger being released in the chemist’s lab. I think I need to see it again just to absorb it all. There are also interlaced cartoon dreams straight out of the movie, Heavy Metal, a movie I watched when I was about 10 and there were no parental controls on Cinemax. Sorry mom..
Cage has found a way to take his talent of over the top losing his mind and making it his signature. There is no one else I could thing of that would be able to pull this role off. His scene in the bathroom, full of color imagery as well, was the best losing his shit performance I have seen to date. It also marks the start of when the movie starts to come alive. Although the movie is mostly devoid of dialogue, it makes his one liners are all the more prominent. Cage, being a huge comic book fan, even manages to throw a line in there about Galactus. His puppet like iconic faces found their mark in all the right places in this movie. I think I see another watercolor painting in my future.
