DRIVE ANGRY 3D
Nicolas Cage headlines this high-octane 3D thriller about a convicted felon who breaks out of hell to prevent the cult that murdered his daughter from sacrificing his infant granddaughter on the night of the full moon. With just three days to go before the ritual killing, Milton crosses paths with knockout waitress Piper, who agrees to help him by stealing her ex-boyfriend's mean, cherry-red muscle machine. Between that high-performance car and Milton's own black '71 Challenger, they may have a shot at taking down the cult and saving his granddaughter's life. But charismatic cult leader Jonah King isn't running scared, because when hell is unleashed on Earth, he will be the most powerful man alive. Unfortunately for Milton, the cops are quickly closing in, and a savage serial killer known only as "The Accountant" is looking to have some bloody fun on the open roads. With each passing minute, Milton's last shot at redemption is fading, so he teams up with Piper to defeat Jonah's legions of loyal disciples, avenge the death of his daughter, and prevent the crazed cult leader from plunging the entire world into infernal darkness. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Director: Patrick Lussier
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, William Fichtner, Billy Burke, David Morse.
Release Date: Feb 25, 2011
Rated R for Strong brutal violence throughout, grisly images, some graphic sexual content, nudity and pervasive language
Runtime: 1 hr. 44 min.
Genres: Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Suspense/Thriller, 3D
Review:
In the opening scene of Drive Angry, Nicolas Cage takes a man’s wallet after killing him. There’s a pretty good chance you could feel like that sad dead sack by the end of this choppy barely coherent exploitation swing and a miss from director Patrick Lussier. Lussier’s direction is generally shoddy and uninspired outside of some impressive moments of 3D insanity. Sadly, outside of those few moments there’s not enough to keep the film moving, it’s a shame because the concept is fairly interesting and could have made for all kinds of high cheese fun. In the end it’s outside of Lussier’s talent level even with a cast that’s better than the film deserves. Nicolas Cage is fairly one note throughout but it’s intentional, that being said it would have been nice to have seen him do a bit more to flesh the character out. Amber Heard is one of the standouts here; she’s entirely committed and badass every time she’s one the screen. It’s a shame 3D ass kicking Heard is mostly wasted with a shoddy script and the lackluster direction. William Fichtner also does yeoman’s work here making the most of every scene he’s in which sadly isn’t enough. Tom Atkins and David Morse show up just to show up and aren’t asked to do much. Billy Burke is laughably invisible even though he’s trying his hardest to be sleazy and menacing. Drive Angry should be a lot more enjoyable as throwback schlockfest but it just misses the mark a lot more often than not.
D
