Sometimes a good shoot ’em up movie with a few plot twists here and there is just what a person needs to pass the time between epic and classic blockbusters. From the sound of things, The Retirement Plan could be something that might fill that gap and possibly get people to take a serious look at Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman, and Jackie Earle Haley once again. All three actors have been in their fair share of action movies and have shown themselves to be more than a little capable when taking on various roles, and it’s easy to think that this time around won’t be all that different. Along with several other noted cast members this story has to do with a mother and her daughter that somehow get involved in a criminal enterprise that threatens to be the end of them both. They run to the only person they can trust, the mother’s estranged father, played by Cage, who turns out to be living in the Cayman Islands, enjoying his retirement as a beach bum. When the crime boss and his lieutenant find her, it becomes known that her father had a past that she never knew about as he does what he can to keep them safe.
So far this has all the elements of many action movies, which might make many people think that it wouldn’t be any better than the dozens and dozens of titles that can be found On Demand. But with three very recognizable names on the roster and with the experience that all three men bring to the screen it’s fair to say that this could be an interesting movie, but it’s going to depend on the story. The idea has been relayed in several articles since it’s been done a few times before and in a number of ways that have attempted to be unique. This trio though does feel as though they could light up the screen in a very different way that might be more impressive than it’s sounding at the moment. The one drawback of any shoot ’em up movie is that it’s done so many times before, and these movies are anything from awesome and impressive to absolutely dreadful.
But seeing as how Cage, Perlman, and Haley are all well-known icons in the movie industry it’s easy to think that there might be a spark here that will ignite in just the right way and give the audience something that might not be incredibly unique but will still be a lot of fun to watch. For quite a while now, Nicolas Cage has been cranking out movies left and right as many of them have gone straight to video while a few others might have made it a little further. He also has another movie that’s coming up titled Pig, which features him as a former chef that’s opted to live in the wild with his truffle-hunting pig as a companion. When someone steals his pig it almost feels that he’s going to pull a John Wick on someone, but it’s not certain just yet. It’s hard to say what Haley is up to but his time as Rorschach in the Watchmen movie definitely qualifies him for something like this, as does his part in the failure that was the Robocop reboot, where he was at least on point with his role.
Ron Perlman has been seen in plenty of action roles, with Hellboy being one of his most recognized and Sons of Anarchy, Pacific Rim, and several others being up there as well. He’s had a great deal of experience playing villains and heroes who look like villains, but it would appear that he’s going to be portraying the second in command to a crime boss in this movie so it’s going to be all bad. These three men have all been at the top of their game and they’ve fallen a bit over the years as they’ve had to do something to bolster their reputation and keep busy. But with this movie it does feel that they’ll be given a chance to get back to basics and create something that people will enjoy just because it’s action and for no other reason.
It’s becoming more and more noticeable as big-name stars who have been popular for at least a couple of decades are starting to slow down at times and are seen more often in low-budget movies or movies that aren’t nearly as big as the blockbusters they used to star in. Some of these actors still give everything they have to each movie they star in, while others kind of phone it in so to speak, and get by on whatever celebrity status they still have. Hopefully this movie will be worth the watch, since getting to see these three in action should be a blast.
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