Outcast
2014; directed by Nick Powell

In order to pay for his notoriously bad habit of buying castles and not paying taxes on them, Nicolas Cage and his collection of toupees have been taking apparently any and every script that blows by in the wind. Sometimes, these seemingly random roles result in brilliance, as with Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. But, most times, we get straight to DVD/Netflix duds, as with his latest project, the American/French/Chinese co-production Outcast, a movie that is only "epic" in how much Cage hams it up to earn that sweet sweet paycheck.

Cage has more of a supporting role here, with another actor who has joined the direct to video crew, Hayden "Hey I was Darth Vader, dammit" Christiansen being the marquee star, playing Jacob, a disillusioned former Crusader who is getting high in China when he is roped into protecting a prince from his evil older brother (Andy On). Nic channels Jack Sparrow via a Hollywood Boulevard impersonator while essaying the role of Gallain, Jacob's even more disillusioned former officer and mentor.

Due to Cage's performance, the cheese factor is off the charts here. Which actually turns out to be the film's lone highlight, because despite how bizarre Cage's work is, at least it's interesting, unlike most everything else in the movie, which veers between deadly dull boring (any exposition that doesn't feature Cage) and headache inducing; the action scenes try to be like the Bourne films, but just end up looking like they were filmed by someone having a seizure.

But getting back to the power that is Nicolas Cage, what the hell exactly was he going for here? What is that accent? British? Scottish? Some shit he made up on the fly? Did he lose an eye or does he just really like to squint? How can a guy who speaks no Chinese communicate with a mute Chinese woman? Is he really living in a cave. What the hell is he doing to that snake? All these questions, and many more, form the nucleus of the conundrum that this the central conflict of Outcast. Oh yeah, there's a bad action movie thrown in there as well.

RATING: 3.5