John Woo’s Face/Off is an undisputed classic of the action genre, an insane and utterly preposterous high-concept blockbuster that sees Nicolas Cage and John Travolta chew every single piece of scenery in sight, play meta versions of the other’s screen personas and indulge in a whole host of slow-motion gunplay that ranks as Woo’s finest hour in Hollywood by some distance.
The movie was 1990s action cinema at its peak, embracing the advances in visual effects technology without leaning into them too heavily while still delivering countless jaw-dropping set pieces created entirely through good old fashioned practical destruction. There’s literally so much to love about Face/Off that a reboot or remake would be tantamount to sacrilege, but it was announced last year anyway, with Fast and Furious‘ Neal H. Moritz to produce and The Cloverfield Paradox‘s Oren Uziel set to write the script.
Most fans are in agreement that a new version of Face/Off is a terrible idea in every way. But what if it starred Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman? The Wolverine star joked in a recent interview that he would consider the idea on one major condition, but now that fans have caught wind of the prospect, they’re desperate to see it actually happen, and you can check out some of the reactions below.
Face/Off remake @VancityReynolds @RealHughJackman would be the greatest thing to ever happen but @TaikaWaititi needs to direct and star in it as well🔥🔥🔥 https://t.co/3b3dGOkmTr
— Omura Sumitada (@DarthManzu) August 26, 2020
This would be a no brainer for the studio
— Dan (@khandan44) August 27, 2020
https://twitter.com/KPageIsGreat/status/1298635181423833088
I didn’t even know this was a thing I wanted till just now.
— Blade O (@SchefBladeO) August 26, 2020
— RosasCris Essential Worker 🇵🇷😷🧟♂️👨🍳🥖✊🇵🇷 (@crisrozy) August 26, 2020
https://twitter.com/NTRAPodcast/status/1298731381372129281
https://twitter.com/DawnBradley80/status/1298741767483908097
https://twitter.com/wherearentyou/status/1298754854152572928
👍
— Laura Lyon (@llyon0701) August 27, 2020
Face/Off is one of those movies that would be much better off left alone, but the thought of Reynolds and Jackman tackling the material would be too good to turn down. Not only would the online arch-enemies finally get to collaborate on a feature-length project, but their decade-long running battle would also add another meta layer to the story. Somebody give these guys a big pile of money and make it happen, because based on their social media chemistry alone, this thing could be off the charts.