10 of Nicolas Cage's wildest movie performances

Between Ghost Rider, Caster Troy, and even himself, Cage's performance is unbridled, energetic, and downright wild.

Veteran actor Nicolas Cage's next film is The Old West, and the trailer sees Cage once again seeking revenge. Westerns are new territory for the actor, but there's no question he'll be at his typically uninhibited best. Cage is one of the most entertaining actors working today, but he's not well known for his versatility. Instead, fans love his over-the-top performances in roles that don't necessarily warrant such drama, but that's what makes his films so re-watchable.

It's a method of acting he developed himself and named it "Nouveau Shamanic" (via Movieline), and while there's a reason to see other actors adopting this method, it makes Cage unique in Hollywood. Between playing an exaggerated version of himself, a flaming skeleton rider, and a would-be vampire, Cage has plenty of untethered, energetic, and downright wild performances under his belt.

The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent (2022)

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent doesn't feature all of Cage's wild performances, and it's the concept of the film, not the cast, that's outrageous. In the new movie, Nicolas Cage plays an exaggerated version of himself who's hired to attend a fan's birthday party. But it happened for a reason, and he ended up being hired by the FBI, who naturally had to infiltrate a drug cartel.

However, due to the ridiculous premise, Cage still has his off-limits moments, especially when he has to remember the tricks he learned from old action movies and apply them to this "real life" situation. Between desperate auditions in the middle of the street and hooking on LSD, the movie hints at Cage's bombastic performance.

Kick-Ass (2010)

Most of Cage's wild performances stand out because the films he's in are otherwise down-to-earth and normal, and the actor's unique style is a perfect fit for the R-rated superhero film Kick-Ass. This movie isn't about superheroes with superpowers, it's about normal people who think they're vigilantes and wear ridiculous costumes to fight crime.

In this regard, there is no better actor than Cage to play Big Daddy, the character who trains his 11-year-old daughter to violently kill gangsters. The actor also deftly borrows from Adam West's performance in the 1960s Batman series (via CBR), which adds an awkward side to the vigilante.

Con Air (1997)

Con Air has the typical high concept of a 90's action movie because it's about airplanes That's transporting a bunch of criminals from one prison to another, and it's Die Hard but better. Cage's role as Cameron Poe, who's just out of parole but is flying home, is one of the actor's most remarkable roles because of his uncharacteristically theatrical nature. His long hair, obsession with pink bunnies and promise to meet his daughter make up one of Cage's funniest performances.

Almost every actor on the set of the 1997 film adopted Cage's "neo-shamanic" approach to acting. Whether it was Steve Buscemi as the notorious serial killer, Ving Rhames as the black nationalist terrorist, or John Malkovich as the criminal mastermind, every actor on that plane Over the top, and a lot of fun in their roles.

Bat Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans (2009)

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is not an original concept, but a remake of the 1992 film of the same name starring Harvey Keitel, but both releases and performances were very different. The movie sparked a feud among filmmakers, as director Wenner Herzog refused to see the original, and Cage didn't seem to bother.

Terence McDonagh (Cage) is just a container for Cage to play a panicked cop. The film starts out as a gripping crime drama, but slowly turns into a weird, obscure, and deeply challenging character study as Cage plays a drugged-up dirty cop. It has some hilariously anachronistic one-liners like "Everything I take is prescription drugs... except heroin."

Wild At Heart (1990)

On the surface, filmmakers David Lynch and Cage seem like a perfect match, and it's strange why they don't Form a Scorsese/De Niro-like director-actor relationship. Actor and director enigmatic, Lynch's films tend to be weird, surreal and often feature characters who don't quite know how to behave in social situations but are still overly eccentric, like most of Cage's characters.

However, one example of the two working together would suffice, as "The Wild Heart" is a surreal masterpiece about a sailor (Cage) trying to escape the madman his mother-in-law hired to kill him. Wearing a snakeskin jacket and sunglasses, Cage certainly didn't look any wilder, and seeing him puff two cigarettes at once said it all.

Face/Off (1997)

face changing / face changing Caster Troy may be Cage's most iconic character ever, as the character's golden gun, psychotic scheme, and slimy demeanor make for one of the best action movie villains of all time. Troy is almost like a Bond villain, and if he were a Bond villain, he'd be the most memorable in 007's rogue's gallery.

As fans wait for Cage's sequels to arrive, whether it's National Treasure 3 or Weight Loss 2, Cage himself has mentioned that he wants to make Face Changer 2. Given that the actor's career has taken a turn for the worse in recent years, making movies for theatrical release rather than direct-to-demand, there's no better movie to bring Cage back to life than the Face/Off Legacy sequel.

Willy's Wonderland (2021)

Willy's Wonderland is one of a series of John Wick-like films in the Cage films, in which Cage faces off against a group of bad guys. Mandy sees him up against a psychopathic cult, and Piggy sees him up against the entire restaurant industry, and while those performances are insane in their own right, they're a far cry from the absolute bombasticity of his performance in Willy's Wonderland.

If audiences thought "The Unbearable Weight" was an outrageous concept, "Willy's Wonderland" would shock and confuse audiences. The film follows a drifter (Cage) hired to clean up an abandoned theme park, only to be hunted down by a group of animatronic characters. Cage's performance matches the absurdity of the plot, as he puts all his strength and ferocity into attacking animatronic baddies.

The Ghost Rider Series (2007 - 2011)

Big Daddy isn't the only superhero Cage has played in the past, as he also played a Marvel character with supernatural abilities. While many thought Cage should have joined the MCU, he played the titular antihero in two Ghost Rider movies, and a biker who turned into a flaming skeleton would fit Cage's range nicely. The character broke the fourth wall in a low-key way, as Cage, playing the role of Johnny Blaze, and when he turned into Ghost Rider, he literally screamed at the camera, such a choice at this stage of his career Not surprising.

Cage didn't flinch from his theatrical performance in Blaze, pushing the idea of ​​a biker in a leather jacket to the pinnacle of stereotypes while subverting them. part The character plays out the metaphor of the biker who is very masculine while his other half just indulges in skittles. Whether this was a choice by the writers, director, or Cage, it's still confusing.

The Wicker Man (2006)

The Wicker Man, one of Cage's most notorious movies, has only one scene where Edward (Cage) is exposed to a bee, making him hilariously scream, "Not a bee!" while on his lap. Being a horror movie, the sequence is meant to scare the audience, but it has the opposite effect, leaving the audience dumbfounded.

The bee scene is more popular than the film itself, as it has become a popular meme, and despite the film's poor box office, the scene has been viewed millions of times on YouTube and grossed less than $40 million worldwide (Box Office Magic ). The rest of the movie is filled with Cage-like over-the-top performances, but ironically, that's what makes this so badly good movie so worth watching.

Vampire's Kiss (1988)

Kiss of the Vampire could be considered a clever satire on New York yuppies, predating American Psycho, but honestly, people don't know what the movie is or what it intends to be. Released in 1988 Like a wild beast out of its cage, it's all thanks to Cage's performance that makes every scene utterly unpredictable.

The film jumps from one bizarre scene to the next, whether it's Peter (Cage) throwing a fit over a filing error, eating a live cockroach, or crawling around under a table, shouting the entire alphabet at his therapist surface. Even the pacing of Cage's dialogue is odd, with his emphasis on casual words, and everything about the character is so expressive that the audience can't look away whether they think it's good or bad.