FBI agent Sean Archer has spent years chasing the terrorist Castor Troy, responsible for the death of his son and behind a bomb threat that could level Los Angeles. When Troy falls into a coma, Archer undergoes a radical operation that grafts the criminal's face onto his own so he can infiltrate his world and locate the explosive. But the plan goes awry when Troy wakes ahead of schedule, seizes Archer's face, and steps into his life, completely reversing their roles. John Woo pushes his operatic action cinema to delirium with this battle of swapped identities, choreographed shootouts, and the unleashed duel between John Travolta and Nicolas Cage.