Nicolas Cage has appeared in three very distinct, very different films in the year 2021, ranging from a deep character study in Pig, to a Five Nights at Freddy’s-inspired horror comedy with Willy’s Wonderland, as well as a futuristic Sion Sono film with Prisoners of the Ghostland. Cage has recently starred in many bad films, but 2021 has been the year that he has once more began to redeem himself as an actor—but with three wildly different attempts at doing so.
Once a Hollywood legend, Nicolas Cage appeared in dozens of big-budget blockbusters and high profile films around the board, whether in the mainstream or on the indie circuit. With performances ranging from loud and bombastic to calm and gentle, Cage has shown his range as an actor time and time again over the years. The Oscar-winning actor is a treasure to cinema and is arguably one of the most accomplished actors of the last several decades. However, the National Treasure star has fallen a bit on hard times when it comes to his film roles, starring in such poorly received straight-to-video films as Jiu Jitsu, A Score to Settle, Primal, and many more.
But despite a disappointing resume of straight-to-video films, Cage has still managed to pop back up on the indie circuit a handful of times over the last decade or so, turning in terrific performances in films like Joe and Mandy, which have earned his tremendous praise from critics and audiences alike. Things are starting to look up for Cage, however, as he appears to be making a bit of a comeback with his widely acclaimed performance in this year’s Pig, along with comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, which stars Cage as himself and is a satire of Cage’s recent career choices. Along with Pig, Cage has starred in two smaller films in the year 2021 that have brought the actor back into the fold of conversation, those being Willy’s Wonderland and Prisoners of the Ghostland. Here is a list of Cage’s three films released in 2021, ranked from worst to best.
3. Prisoners of the Ghostland (2021)
Sion Sono’s Prisoners of the Ghostland is perhaps a mixed bag overall, but there is still a lot to like in Sono and Cage’s first collaboration, despite some of its shortcomings. The film contains a suitably wild Nic Cage performance along with some very strong ideas. The film follows an unnamed bank robber played by Cage who is sprung from prison by a wealthy warlord and tasked with retrieving his adopted granddaughter, who has gone missing. In exchange, Cage’s unnamed character will be given his freedom, but to ensure he completes his task, Cage is strapped into a suit which will self-destruct in five days. From here, it’s a journey of redemption for Cage, as he navigates a futuristic samurai landscape on a rescue mission. It’s a genuinely excellent concept, and sports many interesting scenarios for Cage’s character to get into. Frankly, a collaboration between Nicolas Cage and Sion Sono sounds like a recipe for the wildest ride of the year; and sometimes it does reach those heights, but at others it really falls flat, with a messy script and overlong runtime dragging the film down and creating a bit of a mess. It has some of the creative madness that you’d expect to see from a pair like Cage and Sono, but the film lacks the extra oomph it really needed to make something memorable outside of Cage’s committed performance.
2. Willy’s Wonderland (2021)
While some may look at the low budget and no-name cast of Willy’s Wonderland and dismiss it as yet another Nic Cage straight-to-video dud, what lies underneath is one of the most entertaining high concept straight-to-video films to come out in years, with yet another great Nic Cage performance at its center. Nicolas Cage plays the unnamed silent protagonist of Willy’s Wonderland who takes a job at a knock-off Chuck E. Cheese reminiscent of that of the Five Nights at Freddy’s game series, and suddenly finds himself raging war against the animatronics who come to life at night to feed on those in the building. It’s exactly the kind of high concept film that one would expect Nic Cage to take part in, but in the case of Willy’s Wonderland, that is not a bad thing in the slightest. This is a wild ride, filled with some genuinely creepy animatronics for Cage to fight along with some fun slasher thrills in the mix. If a Nicolas Cage horror film where he dispatches of evil animatronics wasn’t awesome, then something would have to have gone seriously wrong. But thankfully, Willy’s Wonderland knows exactly the kind of campy, low-budget horror film it is, and plays it up in spades. It may not be the most nuanced Cage film of the year, but it’s possibly the most fun.
1. Pig (2021)
In Pig, Nicolas Cage gives one of his finest performances to date and turns in genuinely Oscar-worthy work. Receiving rave reviews from critics, it’s to many the film that has put him back on the map of prestige actors in Hollywood, and deservedly so. This is a somber, emotional film that is slow-paced but remarkably absorbing and haunting in its themes. In Pig, Cage plays a truffle hunter who lives alone in the woods with his pig, who helps him with his job of truffle hunting. One night, however, a group of people steal the pig and it’s up to Cage’s character Robin to get his beloved companion back. This is a concept that could’ve easily been played more as an action comedy of sorts, especially with Nic Cage in the lead role. But smartly, Pig plays its story out as a stoic drama about the vast emptiness of grief and regret, letting Cage show a side of him rarely seen these days. This is a mature, heartbreaking character study with a reflectively haunting ending that hits all of the correct emotions. This is Nic Cage in top form, and it’s not only the best film he’s starred in this year, it’s one of his best films in the last decade.
