When he's finally brought to justice the showdown puts Troy in a coma, seemingly never to emerge.
It comes to light that Troy and his brother had planted a massive 'dirty bomb' in Los Angeles and it will go off in a matter of days. To infiltrate Troy's criminal network and persuade the brother to reveal the location of the bomb, Archer undergoes experimental surgery to take on his likeness including a face transplant.
No good will come of this.
John Woo brings high concept futuristic action to Hollywood with explosive results.
Literally. Every gun seems to hold a thousand bullets and pyros ignite anywhere they hit.
Obviously Troy awakens and returns the face swap favour infiltrating every aspect of Archer's life and using his authority to cause chaos.
Both actors are good at gurning psychopaths so the body swap works well and it earns its runtime, never letting the pace drop.
Also, it focuses (only briefly) on how Castor dispenses support and dubious wisdom to Archer's daughter that he himself would probably have failed at. Likewise Archer offers compassion to Castor's son and on/off partner he would have struggled with. It's not on screen long: this is John Woo after all but it does bother to do this.
Obviously there's an ick factor to Castor having sex with Archer's wife Eve but it's handled specifically to point out the consent problem and doesn't glorify but denigrate it. Again it's John Woo so it's not covered heavily but it does bother.
I remember the action looking slick as fuck but in a post Matrix world it just looks ordinary now. It still stands up though.
It smells of having been written for a more futuristic setting but at no point does that break anything.
Excellent shooty explodey nonsense with a bit of thought hiding behind the curtain. 8/10 recommended.