THE PLOT THUS FAR
Evan Lake (Cage), a veteran CIA agent, has been ordered to retire. But when his protégé (Yelchin) uncovers evidence that Lake’s nemesis, the terrorist Banir (Karim), has resurfaced, Lake goes rogue, embarking on a perilous, intercontinental mission to eliminate his sworn enemy.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“Dying of the Light” is a film about an older CIA agent that is being forced to retire. The man is plagued by nightmares over a man that tortured him 20 years ago, but he can’t enact his revenge due to the onset of dementia. In between frequent stammering and involuntary shaking, Cage works with Anton Yelchin to find a way to make the man pay. But, revenge never comes easy for men that were meant to do the devil’s work. The film is famous for the production issues that Schrader faced during production. I wish I could watch one modern Schrader movie where he just had a great time making a film.
Nicolas Cage shows amazing range and he seemed to connect with the material. What’s sad is that he’s the only one that makes the film work. Yelchin comes across bipolar, as he goes from unconvincing badass to nerdy kid at the drop of a hat. The ghost of Chekhov haunts this dude and I wish he could get past it. He’s a solid actor who can connect when the material has a purpose for him.
The Blu-Ray comes with a Digital HD copy, featurette, interviews, trailer gallery and deleted/extended scenes as the special features. The A/V Quality is pretty sharp for a movie that didn’t get a proper release. The 1080p transfer really pops, even though it tends to skew a bit dark. The DTS-HD 5.1 master audio track is pretty strong. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase to the curious.
RELEASE DATE: 02/17/2015