Cara a cara

Hasta ver Cara a cara, sentía que no sabía apreciar las películas de acción. La jungla de cristal, Speed (Máxima potencia), La roca... todos estos clásicos del género me parecían demasiado simples en su contenido. Estaban espectacularmente rodados, eran agradables de ver, pero no eran una experiencia inmersiva. Y entonces llegó Cara a cara, y mis temores de incompetencia en la crítica de películas de acción se desvanecieron. John Woo me convenció de que incluso una llamativa película de acción puede tener un fuerte drama con una elaborada psicología de los personajes, y que incluso con una película de acción, aunque no dispare exactamente, puedo sentir interés por la historia y dejarme llevar por ella. Cara a cara tiene un tema fantástico sobre el cambio de rostros, perfectamente ambientado en la actualidad sin que suene ridículamente irreal. Tiene una historia peculiar con giros sorprendentes y actuaciones únicas dentro del género. Y todo ello intercalado con famosas escenas de acción de Woo, que en sí mismas son una delicia para el alma de todo amante de la acción espectacularmente estilizada. Habiendo visto sólo los comienzos de Woo en Hollywood antes de Cara a cara, Blanco humano y Broken Arrow: Alarma nuclear, esta obra maestra es para mí lo que son para otro Hard Boiled (Hervidero) y El asesino. Cara a cara es la mejor película de acción de Hollywood. (11.04.2002)

The best movie of John Woo in Hollywood. Great action, great Travolta and Cage and great atmosphere. One of the best American action films of the 90s, but it's a long way from what Woo did in Hong Kong. (24.08.2002)

Cage and Travolta compete to see who can be the cooler guy, and sometimes I feel like it's impossible for both of them to play so well. Both of them excel in both negative and positive roles, and when you add the visual aspect of scenes with mirrors or the climax of the film at the funeral, it's hard to find any flaws. The film is action-packed from beginning to end, the best Woo film ever, and as the icing on the cake, Dominique Swain prevents it from going below 100%. (22.01.2006)

John Woo knows his craft, no doubt about it, comrades. Excellent choreography of ordinary shooters (the slaughter in Buzz's house with romantic music is simply perversely beautiful), an impressive camera, compositions with John's lovely pigeons... who could resist? The pilgrimage plot is also lost, which is played out with almost comedic ease (the excellent pervert Travolta and his educational style) and, on the other hand, with urgent desperation (the dog's eyes of muggle Nicholas Cage). The whole thing works brilliantly until the last seconds, but it literally smashes the hellish happy ending with one of Woo's worst slow motions I've ever seen (and I even survived Hard Target!). If I set aside the awkwardness and the end, Face/Off is a valuable member of the powerful action trio of the second half of the 1990s, without any problems equal to Con Air, but on the other hand, it is far from reaching the qualities of The Rock. (28.07.2005)

A psychological action film. Admittedly, that sounds a bit weird, but I can’t think of a better description of my feelings from this movie. It's an action ride with the great John Woo's signature, but also emotionally strong with an interesting plot. With Pulp Fiction I originally wrote that Travolta should kiss Tarantino's feet, but he should blow John Woo. This was his last interesting role, and together with Cage, he delivers an acting masterclass. Very good film. (27.02.2003)