I was hoping for some good old classic criminals-messing-with-the-wrong-guy rather violent action movie when I sat down to watch this one. I was indeed expecting it to be a B-movie but being a B-movie does not necessarily make it a bad movie. Well I was right about it being a B-movie and it was indeed rather violent but for the rest it did not turn out to be exactly what I hoped for.

Paul and his buddies does indeed start to crack down on the less desirable elements of society. This they do using the well-known strategy of applying a healthy dose of violence and if that does not work then you use more violence. In general the movie starts off fairly well but as we ride along it starts to degenerate into silly outbreaks of rage. I know the movie is called Rage (as well as Tokarev) but I was expecting the rage to be directed towards the bad guys and not just senseless shouting into the air. The further we go the more it degenerates. There is the classical cops-who-intervene-and-let-the-bad-guys-get-away stuff. Very annoying. The stupid screw-up of Danny and Paul’s way of handling it was also a bit of a downer.

Still, the movie was not all that bad until we reached the end. Well, the end does have a twist to it that has to be said. It also had to be said that I did not like it at all. Even if I could have gotten over the twist itself, the actions of Paul afterwards and the final scenes really sunk the movie for me.

Nicolas Cage did not do a bad performance but, as far as I am concerned, he was given a less than stellar script to work with. Technically I would say that this was on the upper half of the scale for B-movies but the story, especially the ending, was not my cup of tea.

Very dark movie. Surprisingly dark considering it is a movie with Nicholas Cage.
Resolve at the end is lackluster, nice surprise when you're not spoiled but makes the whole build up kinda useless.
The whole story/script rather feels like it's falling into places however it is convenient for progress. On that way there are some things that irritate me as a viewer:
Why did Maguire kill himself at the end? Just because of feeling remorse for what he did when he was 17? Why now? Cowardly way out when he was about being killed anyway, leaving his wife back, alone. Why did he have to kill his friend? Why didn't he trust him just now? I get what was tried to explain it in the movie but it was again just falling into places here, it's highly unbelievable. Completely unnecessary as well.
Most of all: this movie probably has the most useless and retarded police I have ever seen in a movie. They are just there for action scenes, for suspense when chasing the bad guy(s), giving a certain frame. They could be cut out completely from the movie and it wouldn't make any change.
Not only is Maguire a very unlikeable cardboard character but the side characters have no other purpose than to appear out of nowhere just for plot and leave again. They aren't explored whatsoever, it's just "they are the mysterious bad guys you don't want to anger". That's it.
Well, at least for the most part, turns out that one guy who got killed when Maguire was 17 was the brother of the Russian mob boss. How convenient.
The premise is great, the twist at the end a nice change to the happy end crap that is favored and it has it's moments but the movie lacks on all ends sometimes more, sometimes less.

A man, Paul Maguire (Nocolas Cage), has quit the business of... crime. However, one day his past catches up to him and his daughter is kidnapped. Now, in order to get her back, he must get the old gang back together and find the people responsible.

Yes, there is more to the movie than this, but if you are planning on watching the movie, I won't spoil your fun. However, thats not to say that this is a big and interesting plot, far from it.

Normally, I love movies with a twist, but a twist is nothing if the cast, script and anything really... is bad. In this case, nothing works. Nicolas Cage (whom I know can act) is two dimensional and anything he does seems false and... without passion. While shooting this movie, he must have figured out that it was a mistake and simply... given up. It shows. It just goes to say, a good actor (and I am not saying that Nicolas Cage is a good actor, but he can act, just watch Adaptation) can't keep a movie going on his own, except if your name is Tom Hardy and the movie is Locke, or Robert Redford and the movie is called All Is Lost. Unfortunately, this movie is called Tokarev, the name of a gun, and that... just... says it all. Really.

I gave this movie two stars, and I'd like to tell you why. Peter Stomare has a small role, and he is always good, and... the ending that goes on beyond the credits... is actually a nice little touch. But everything else. Not worth the bother.

_Last words... don't watch this movie. Unless you like action for the sake of action and cares nothing for acting, interesting characters and... plot._

Ooh look, it's another revenge thriller.

Nicolas Cage stars as a reformed mobster who is forced to go back to his violent ways when his daughter is kidnapped by baddies.

It is what it is really, a Nic Cage starrer that does exactly what the plot synopsis suggests. Does it bring anything new to the revenge formula of genre film making? Absolutely not. But on reflection there are very few that have improved upon originals from as far back as Fritz Lang's Fury in 1936. Sure there is more blood now, more gruesome deaths to put bums on theatre seats, but the majority of them remain soulless, existing only for the point of existing. The market is there for those who either enjoy such genre splatters, or for those who like me just merely wanted a brainless pic to pass the time away with - which of course means leaving said brain at the door.

It's all very preposterous, even insulting at times, but this is actually no worse than some of the more praised revenge thrillers of recent times - but that just makes the point that ultimately the bar hasn't been set high for a considerable time now. So wake up film makers! Give us something new! 5/10