Driving Mildly Frustrated

Drive Angry is the story of John Milton, played by the unpredictable Nicolas Cage, an escapee of hell on the trail of a satanic cult who have kidnapped his granddaughter. With a young female sidekick in tow, Milton sets out on a trail of ultra-destruction which includes sex, gun-fights and muscle cars. Hot on the heels of the odd couple is The Accountant, an excellent outing for William Fichtner, a bounty hunter tasked with returning Milton to his hellish surroundings. Milton's granddaughter is to be sacrificed at the sight of a full moon by the satan worshipping cult responsible for the death of his daughter. The story plays out in a surprising linear sequence of chase and fight with an unfortunate lack of deviation into the absurd.

I never disrobe before gunplay. 

The recent mini-renaissance of exploitation cinema results in satisfaction levels being raised and raised high. A film that would have interested fans of the genre in years gone by now appears diluted alongside recent contemporaries. The problem is that Drive Angry sits closer to Piranha 3d than it does Black Dynamite or Death Proof in the pantheon of this nu-exploitation.  This is to be his expected when considering director Patrick Lussier's earlier outing as director of the My Bloody Valentine reboot. Drive Angry rarely gets out of second gear (oh dear) due to its unwillingness to fully commit to its exploitative nature. Cage seems somewhat imprisoned in the role although it is this character type that usually sees Cage's best work (see Bad Lieutenant or Wild at Heart). Usually we can assume that the crazier the film or character the better the performance but the difference in this instance is in the quality of script. Cage's deadpan delivery is not exploited to its fullest due to the lukewarm nature of the humour which rarely stretches far beyond the odd questionably timed 'mother-f**cker'. Lynch and Herzog have displayed an enhaned capability for working to Cage's limited strengths which are not utilised with the same vigour here. 

Drive Angry does make good use of  3d, a cinematic craft not yet mastered in my opinion, and the action sequences are enhanced by this presentation. The days of a films release in 3d being enough to guarantee an audience are past due to the sheer volume of these being issued every month.  Drive Angry has received a 'mixed' reception, to put it respectfully, and looks like it may to struggle to recoup the $50million budget put into its production.

Unfortunately it seems that I have been writing about my disappointment at films not living up to my expectations a lot lately. I really expected Drive Angry to be an all-out exploitation film which would see Cage at his manic best. Instead Drive Angry decided not to enter the overtaking lane, happy enough at it's own pace under the speed limit.

Official Site - http://www.driveangry3d.com