ARSENAL (2017) ***

Arsenal is as good as you could hope from a 23 years later DTV sequel to Deadfall.  Like Deadfall, it is a solid neo-noir crime drama that is punctuated with hilarious moments from a scenery-chewing Nicolas Cage.  That film dealt with conmen working a big grift.  This one features a kidnapping gone awry.  Both films feature sturdy enough noir tropes that can sustain themselves during the Cage-less stretches.  I can’t exactly say it filled the big shoes left by Deadfall, but it is an entertaining thriller and required viewing for fans of crazed Cage antics.

The use of Cage’s character, Eddie King was a bit restrained.  He’s only seen sparingly throughout the early going of the film, and even when he is front and center, Cage seemed to be holding back.  Luckily for the audience, once he kills his brother (played by his real life brother and Deadfall director Christopher Coppola), Cage goes off his rocker and does so in glorious slow motion.  He also gets a funny scene where he writes a letter to his dead brother and the speech he gives about the effects of eating Drano is worth the price of admission alone.

Speaking of which, director Steven C. Miller does some cool stuff with slow motion in the final act.  He gives us a few Dredd-style bullet time shot of bullets whizzing around and going through cheeks and nut sacs.  He also delivers an awesome exploding head gag that is as good as anything you’d see in a Scaners movie.

The strong performances by Adrian Grenier and Jonathon Schaech anchor the film.  Their scenes of brotherly devotion keep you involved.  Even though you want to see Nic Cage completely lose his shit, you’re still rooting for the brothers to take him down.  John Cusack also shows up wearing basically the same get-up he wore in Drive Hard.  From beneath his sunglasses and baseball hat, he comes this close to phoning it in, but stops short.

Now, I know what you’re thinking.  How the hell did Eddie survive his memorable death scene from the first film?  Honestly, I don't really care.  It's just good to have Nic back behind the moustache and false nose again.  Do I wish he went a bit crazier and went into full-on Deadfall levels of insanity?  Sure, but he still has enough memorable moments to keep you entertained.

 

Oh, and there's no reason for this to be called Arsenal.  There's one scene near the end where Grenier opens a safe and pulls out… one single gun.  That’s not much of an arsenal, if you ask me.

 

AKA:  Philly Fury.  AKA:  Southern Fury.