I love Nicolas Cage. I know that’s not exactly a crazy statement — lots of people love Nicolas Cage! But I genuinely can’t get enough of watching the man work. I won’t sit here and tell you all of Cage’s movies are good. In fact, a lot of them are downright bad. But Cage has a certain weirdo charisma that almost always comes through. He’s phoned it in more than a few times, but when he’s firing on all cylinders, look out!
“The Retirement Plan” looks like it has Cage in top form. Not only does he get to do a lot of fight scenes, but he gets to be funny. There’s a moment here where he hits a goon in the neck, causing the guy to start choking. Cage’s reaction is to immediately start mocking the injured man’s choking sounds. It’s a funny bit that I’m almost positive Cage improvised on the spot, because that’s just how it comes across. There’s also another scene at the end of the trailer where Cage’s granddaughter tosses him a gun while he’s jumping through the air. That’s cinema, folks.
Here’s the synopsis:
Ashley and her young daughter Sarah must seek out Ashley’s estranged father, Matt, for help when they wind up in the middle of a criminal enterprise that threatens their lives. He is living the life of a retired beach bum in the Cayman Islands when they track him down but are soon found by crime boss Donnie and his lieutenant Bobo. The more time Ashley spends with Matt, she realizes he has a secret past she knew nothing about.
Of course, the trailer gives away the “secret past” by revealing Cage is, in fact, a retired assassin. Although he obviously doesn’t stay retired for long. “The Retirement Plan,” which also stars Ashley Greene, Ron Perlman, Jackie Earle Haley, and Ernie Hudson, arrives on August 25, 2023.