It feels somewhat odd to be actively excited to see a movie starring Nicolas Cage, but the first trailer for black comedy Mum and Dad has managed this rare feat.
Playing out like a reverse version of Cooties, Mum and Dad has a group of suburban parents overcome with murderous rage to kill their offspring. In Cooties, an entire school of kids become infected with tainted chicken nuggets and get a hankering for human flesh. Mom and Dad flips that premise, and if nothing else, Nic Cage is perfectly cast and is on manic crazy mode (as if there is any other kind of Cage mode), which is always worth a watch.
The last decade or so of Nic Cage’s career has been a nightmarish thing to behold. Occasionally he’ll do something interesting like Kick-Ass, Bad Lieutenant, Joe or Army of One, but those treasures are amongst more than 40 movies he’s made in the last ten years. That’s too many films for any performer to be able to deliver good work, and considering Cage has been making choices based on his once dire financial circumstances he has been working his way through some of the worst material on offer. Watching a one time Oscar winner and one of Hollywood’s most exciting talents become fodder for DTV action guff that even Steven Seagal wouldn’t touch has been a sad thing to behold. However, Hollywood loves a comeback and Cage is long overdue a reinvention. Mum and Dad might not be the movie to kickstart a Cage comeback, but it does look like a lot of fun.
Mum and Dad has yet to acquire a fixed UK release date, but it arrives in the US on January 19.
