Chinese people with British accents and Nicolas Cage squinting one eye like he’s half-blinded by his own acting performance. These are two of the standout elements in the ridiculous trailer for the upcoming film “Outcast.” Hayden Christensen stars alongside Cage as two non-natives who find themselves pulled into the political machinations of imperial China.
A period film, “Outcast” takes place around the time the Crusades were cascading across Europe and Asia. Cage and Christensen are former Crusaders, so to speak, who take on the task of saving the children of a deposed Chinese emperor. With the emperor gone, the children’s lives are endangered by their uncle, who seeks power for himself.
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When it comes to a Cage movie, you never know which version of Cage you’re going to get. There’s the Oscar-winning actor on one hand, then there’s the guy who loves to chew scenery and spit out corny lines like they’re leaving a bad taste in his mouth. We’ll call that “The Wicker Man” Nicolas Cage.
It’s too early to say for sure which Cage “Outcast” features — but with the awkward squinting, the weird hairdo, the crazy eyes and the bellowing of great lines like “I am the White Ghost!” — it’s certainly looking pretty “Wicker.”
Which isn’t to say it won’t be incredibly great for all of those very Nicolas Cage-ian reasons.
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Directed by Nick Powell from a screenplay by James Dormer, “Outcast” was produced by Jeremy Bolt, Leonard Glowinski, Karine Martin and Alan Zhang. The film costars Liu Yifei, Summer Jikejuny and Andy On.
Arclight Films won’t release it to U.S. theaters until Feb. 27, 2015. Chinese audiences get to delight in it much earlier when it bows there Sept. 26.
