PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND (2021) – All showy with little substance
Rating: ⭐ 1/2

What a huge disappointment this turned out to be. Expectations for me were running high from its imaginative promotional posters and an amazing trailer. It looked all set to be another Nicholas Cage tour de force with its bizarre settings, and Cage playing another strange and untalkative character.
Alas, Japanese director Sion Sono’s effort is all showy with little substance. Perhaps one cannot blame Sion totally for this given the incoherent story he was tasked to film. Prisoners of the Ghostland is set in a post apocalyptic future in a place presumably in Japan, called Samurai Town where, Nicholas Cage is caught robbing a bank. He is somehow ear-marked as the ideal person to help bring back the adopted grand daughter of the town’s powerful and much feared Governor. As motivation, he is offered his freedom if he can find and return the girl within 3 days. As further motivation, he is forced to wear a bobby-trapped leather suit. The outfit is rigged with tiny bombs attached at various strategic spots which can be detonated by the Governor should his fail to carry out his task as desired. Two were located where his testicles were .. ouch!
Sounds like a plot for some crazy fun escapism with the unorthodox Nicholas Cage providing his trademark craziness. Right? … Wrong … What could have been a fun filled no hold bar rowdy adventure is bogged down by an unintelligible script, and introduction of a herd of characters who come and go, serving little purpose to the narration. There is also little chemistry between Cage and his fellow female lead, Sofia Boutella who plays the runaway grand daughter. There were also no stand out action sequence despite plenty of opportunities for this to happen.
The sets were perhaps the best thing about the movie. The early scenes of the bank robbery and the introduction to the colourful and multi-faceted Samurai Town were eye popping. But this is soon replaced by the dirty, and messy landscape of the “Ghostland”. There were hints of influence from films like Mad Max here but very little logic or back story was offered to provide any explanation for what we are seeing.
So, sadly, Ghostland fails to deliver on its promotional material promise and is a wasted opportunity for greatness. It is a film that leaves no mark on one’s mind and will be an easily forgotten piece of work. The only reason for catching this is Nicholas Cage, period.