Review: Prisoners of the Ghostland
Set in a nuclear-afflicted wasteland Japan where The Governor (Bill Moseley) rules a town that seems like a pastiche of Samurai and Wild West motifs. When the granddaughter of The Governor (and two other geishas) have managed to flee the town, The Governor decides to release incarcerated armed robber Snake Plis…er…, no this guy’s name is simply Hero (Nic Cage). Hero is tasked with finding and returning the adopted granddaughter (played by Sofia Boutella) within three days. The kicker? The Governor has Hero stitched up in a leather suit rigged with strategically placed explosives set to detonate at the end of three days. Movies like this 2021 English language debut from Japanese director Sion Sono ( “Why Don’t You Play in Hell?” ) are tough to grade. Although in many ways it’s the furthest thing from a conventionally good movie, I nonetheless found this post-apocalyptic tale more interesting and entertaining than about 98% of Nic Cage’s output in the last decade or so. Hell, i...