Movie Review: Drive Angry (2011)
No matter the excuse, it's still a bad movie
Photo: Summit Entertainment
It's important to make sure a film's intention is taken into consideration when looking to evaluate it fairly. Most of the time I don't think it is necessary to point this out, but with Drive Angry I figured I'd make a special exception.
Drive Angry is a bad film. This is a reality that will be defended by some saying things such as "It's not supposed to be an Oscar contender!" "What did you expect?" and "Just shut off your brain and be entertained." Fair enough, but if I say to you, "Garbage stinks," I don't think you'll defend that fact by jumping into a dumpster. But I digress, back to the movie…
The cast includes Nicolas Cage, William Fichtner, Amber Heard, Billy Burke, David Morse, Christa Campbell and Tom Atkins. For more information on this film including pictures, trailers and a detailed synopsis choose from the following menu.
Review
"Drive Angry" is a Summit Entertainment release, directed by Patrick Lussier and is rated R for strong brutal violence throughout, grisly images, some graphic sexual content, nudity and pervasive language. The running time is 1 hour 44 minutes.
What's most interesting about this is there are aspects that are rather intriguing. The whole revenge plot is pretty much standard, but the breaking out of Hell part adds a nice twist. Throw in William Fichtner as one of Satan's modulators and you have yourself a movie. Yet, in its attempts to be over the top, Drive Angry stumbles to the finish.
Certain moments such as Fichtner's use of a baseball bat, a mid-coital gun fight a la Shoot 'Em Up and some of the cheesy dialogue is a bit fun, but in the end too much of this is routine to ever be considered an inventive B-movie. Instead it's a run-of-the-mill D-movie with an inexplicably hefty production budget.
Some will argue it's meant to be bad, which is why you should "turn your brain off and enjoy the ride." The "turn your brain off" defense is legitimate for many popcorn features, but it only works if a movie allows you to do so. As a thinking person I don't just shut down. I make note of what's going on in a film and if a film allows me to, my brain won't shut down as much as it just goes on autopilot. This is why we overlook plot holes in great blockbusters such as The Dark Knight. But when one scene after another features Cage mowing down a new batch of nameless baddies I can't help but begin to nitpick and ask just why the hell I should be watching this? Especially if each scene is going to mirror the next.
Cage is joined by Amber Heard, an actress with very little talent to speak of, which is to imply she's an example of perfect casting. Heard's lack of ability isn't helped by the script either. She gets the brunt of the bad dialogue with such gems as "Give me one good reason I shouldn't shoot you in the face" and "I've been waiting on tables, waiting on fools and waiting for it all to mean something." However, it's when she says something along the lines of, "People messing with things that ought not be messed with turns my shit white," that made me nearly fall out of my chair. Yes, among the banality there are moments of awfulness that also entertain.
Fichtner is so good you forget Cage has thrown his career down the toilet. While films such as this and Season of the Witch have become Cage's stomping grounds, I began thinking to myself, What is William Fichtner doing here? He's better than this. With a characteristic tick to his tock, Fichtner delivers a highly entertaining character that stands above the stupidity. He seems to have embraced the awful and flows with it rather than Cage's seemingly uncontrollable ability to contribute to it. You laugh with Fichtner and at Cage. There's a difference.
I would probably be more inclined to go gentler on this film had I not learned it cost upwards of $50 million to make. My guess, based on the piss poor CGI, a half-assed sound mix and a script that seems to still be in the spec stage, was they spent $19 million and not a penny more. How director Patrick Lussier (My Bloody Valentine) managed to burn $50 million and turn in a film with effects that still look unfinished is beyond me. Perhaps David Morse is charging more for his Wilford Brimley-esque cameos than I would have thought.
Should you brave Drive Angry? If you do, you may as well see it in 3D. Lussier does have a bit of fun with the medium in a way I think 3D movies were meant to be seen… as a gimmick to support lesser films. Perhaps under the right influence and in a crowd of similarly affected friends, you may have some fun, but I can't believe anyone could actually call this good.
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As far as crazy bad Nic Cage movies from 2011 go, how does it compare to Season of the Witch? Is it at least stupid/ironically entertaining?
If you're asking because the answer will help you decide whether or not to see it, then I say go see it. The two films aren't really comparable. One is a hard R junk flick and the other is a PG-13 (should have been) direct-to-video movie. I'd say both are harmless, neither are particularly good.
Sometimes, though, a D+ film can be just what the doctor ordered.
… you said:
"While films such as this and Season of the Witch have become Cage's stomping grounds, I began thinking to myself, What is William Fichtner doing here? He's better than this. With a characteristic tick to his tock, Fichtner delivers a highly entertaining character that stands above the stupidity. He seems to have embraced the awful and flows with it rather than Cage's seemingly uncontrollable ability to contribute to it. You laugh with Fichtner and at Cage. There's a difference."
… I felt exactly the same way about Glenn Close in "The Stepford Wives"… no one – NO ONE – survived that movie intact, except Close… and she took a poorly written character in a poorly written movie, realised that she had nothing to lose, (probably said, "F*ck it!) and went to town on 'expanding' her character…
… I know you've given this film a 'D' (plus or otherwise) – duly noted – but now I want to see the comparison!
- cheers.
One word for Nicolas Cage, OUCH!!
I really might have to see this to find out if it actually is this bad.
I might be able to wait for the rental though.
I'm sure all the great directors that Cage has worked for in the eighties like David Lynch and the Coen Bros, look at his work today and just shake their heads with confusion.