Drive Angry 3D
Directed by: Patrick Lussier
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, William Fichtner, Billy Burke
Running Time: 1 hr 44 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: February 25, 2011
PLOT: A father (Cage) escapes from hell and chases after the men who killed his daughter and kidnapped his granddaughter.
WHO'S IT FOR? If you want gratuitous, then sign up for Drive Angry. You might not feel good about yourself for liking it, but it's good over-the-top action.
OVERALL
Know what you are. Take yourself up a notch and separate yourself from the group. That's exactly what Drive Angry 3D does. A man escapes ... from a type of prison. Actually, describing Nic Cage as just "a man" doesn't cut it. Cage brings God awful hair and a full commitment no matter how cheesy or clichéd the line of dialogue is. But don't worry about the cheese, this film has awareness. Remember, it knows what it is. After all, William Fichtner shows up as The Accountant" and his first line of dialogue is "Fat F**k," yet it's delivered so well, that it's not just an opportunity to swear because swearing is cool. You'll have to trust me until you see this movie, but they even make a slow-motion walk-away car explosion work. It's because Cage is all business, yet it's Cage and we the audience know that films like X-Men Origins: Wolverine have no clue what they are doing when they have Hugh Jackman walk away from a car exploding.
I was a little worried about the violence toward women here, but luckily and thankfully, Piper (Amber Heard) can punch back. This is a hot, hot, hot female character that is given more to do than what some would say are her counter parts like Megan Fox in the Transformers movies.
The one part of the killing spree that doesn't work for me is Billy Burke as Jonah King, who is trying to kill a baby and bring hell to Earth. Yes, you definitely want him dead, but mainly because he's taking up too much screen time from Cage and Fichtner. The deadpan sarcasm from Fichtner is reason alone to see this film and he's my early frontrunner for Best Action Hero/Villain/Superhuman in the 10th Annual TSR Movie Awards.
Drive Angry 3D is crazy cool (not just cool). You'll be shocked at what you laugh at and with during this film. The music continuously blares and the cars have plenty of muscle. The 3D is used is great effect. I actually ducked at one point in the film when The Accountant throws something. Most importantly, it's fast. It rarely slows down. That's a mistake almost all action movies make. It's the perfect midnight movie. Enjoy Drive Angry 3D and then feel a little weird that you enjoyed it so much.
FINAL SCORE: 7/10