adonis98-743-186503
A shady police detective finds himself in the middle of a murder conspiracy at an important boxing match in an Atlantic City casino. Snake Eyes benefits from Brian De Palma's stylish direction and strong perfomances from both Nicolas Cage and Gary Sinise plus it keeps you hooked on the story and there's some nice twists and tuens along the way. Unfortunately tho this is no masterpiece either and to be honest the ending of the film felt a bit meh unlike other movies of De Palma like Mission Impossible and Scarface it was kind of "fast" and even a bit forgettable but the movie is still quite watchable thanks to it's leads but the ending needed to be better and stronger from what it was. (6.5/10)
andreolimarco
I think that the strong point of this film is the direction. Maybe the story is predictable, little original and so on... but it is undeniable Brian De Palma's job on camera movements and on the style is extraordinary. Do we want to talk about the - fake - long take at the beginning, that lasts more than 10 minutes, in which the whole meaning of the film is included? Moreover, I've seen much worse performances by Nicholas Cage.
FlashCallahan
There was a time in the mid to late nineties when all of a sudden, Nicolas Cage became one of Hollywood's most bankable stars.It started around the time when The Rock was released, and more or less ended when The Family Man came out in 2000. But between that time, Cage could've made a film with him just looking out of the window, and it would have at least made a minuscule profit.How times have changed....Ricky Santoro is a corrupt Atlantic City cop with a dream. Become so well connected that he can become mayor. In the meantime though, he'll settle for keeping his comfortable lifestyle. On the night of the heavyweight boxing championship, Ricky becomes mixed up in the assassination of the Secretary of Defense, an assassination involving his best friend. Becoming the investigating officer, Ricky soon uncovers a conspiracy to kill the Secretary and a mysterious woman in white........De Palma has always been my favourite director. Not because his films are the perfect example of cinema, they are certainly not, but he has one of the most original eyes for cinematography and wonderful shots that just linger in the mind. Even films that have him apparently restrained, such as Mission Impossible, have a certain scene at a certain angle that really raise the tension of the film.Here, it's the twenty minute 'one take shot', which we all know clearly isn't, but it's still exciting and really sets you up for a fall. It's seamless, beautiful, and Nicolas Cage is just fantastic in this opening scene.And then, it all goes downhill from there, narratively speaking, but the flashbacks, points of view from other characters, and those wonderful homages to Hitchcock (the tracking through the rooms from a ceiling perspective is amazing) keep the film from becoming an almost wreck.And then there's Cages performance. If he could put a quarter of the energy in his films now that he does here, he'd still be a big hitter at the box office, and be better regarded as an actor.Granted, there are a couple of instances where he does go way over the top (his hands shaking when he's going for a cigarette after he's found out who is behind it all is hilarious), but he's so watchable, and so slimy yet likable, you can't help but get lost in his performance.Sinise is as reliable as ever, and the rest of the cast do twitchy and panicking like its second nature to them.All in all, if your not a fan of star or director, I doubt you'll like this.It's definitely an acquired taste, just like Cages wardrobe in this film.
Tweekums
Protagonist Rick Santoro is a cop in Atlantic City; he is not a hero; he takes bribes and shakes down crooks rather than arrest them. His friend Commander Kevin Dunne is almost his opposite; an upstanding naval officer who is in town leading the security detail of the Defence Secretary. Dunne is keen for everything to go well as his boss watches a boxing match… unfortunately it doesn't while Dunne is investigating a suspicious redhead shots ring out and the Secretary goes down. A second shot clips the woman next to him and as she flees Santoro sees that her blonde hair was a wig. Dunne shoots the assassin but he knows he messed up however Santoro assures him he can spin it so he looks good.At first it looks like a single terrorist is behind the crime but the investigation quickly suggests otherwise; the shooter fired just after the favourite hit the canvas in what TV footages shows was a dive. We soon learn that he was approached by the redhead and another member of the crowd shouted his cue to dive… clearly there was a conspiracy. It looked as though this was going to be a mystery but forty minutes in we learn who the chief bad guy is at it isn't much longer before we learn the wounded girl was in fact a target as she was blowing the whistle on company giving falsified data to win a defence contract. The question is will Santoro save her and expose the corruption or will he live up to his reputation and take the easy option.This is a solid thriller; not a classic but worth watching on television or picking up if you see it in the bargain bin. The story gets off to a good start and sets up an interesting mystery… it is just a shame that the bad guy was exposed so soon; it would have been better if we'd learnt his identity at the same time as Santoro. The action is well handled even if things get a bit cliché towards the end. Nicolas Cage is delightfully over the top as Santoro and Gary Sinise is solid as his friend Dunne. Carla Gugino looks good as the female lead although her character is sadly underused. Overall an entertaining way to pass an hour and a half.
