With each successive role, Nicolas Cage becomes a sadder, more sulking version of his former self, which got me thinking: was Cage ever that great to begin with? While he has worked under the guidance of some impressive directors (including Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, and Werner Herzog), has his acting range ever truly transcended the mindset of a bland (and sometimes hyperactive) summer action hero? "Drive Angry" goes a long way toward answering that question. The latest 3D'ed effort from director Patrick Lussier and writer Todd Farmer, who previously visited a remake of "My Bloody Valentine" upon us, this tale of a Badass escaping from Hell to rain down retribution upon the Bad Dudes who killed his daughter and took her baby is formless in concept (imagine a really bad rip-off of the already-bad "Constantine"), with minimal explanation given to John Milton (said Badass, played by Cage) and his powers...and his backstory...etc. The awful Amber Heard shines awfully in the role of Cage's sidekick, hitching her boots on an awful Southern twang. Looking like Jimmy Fallon given over to a rock-star hangover, Billy Burke ("Twilight") shows up as the Satanic cult leader who killed Milton's daughter, and looks to ritually sacrifice her child because...well, um, like a lot else in "Drive Angry," it's just never explained. Some filmmakers can float their concepts on a deliberate lack of conventional logic and exposition (early-period David Lynch and Roman Polanski comes to mind), delivering compelling work through a confident directorial vision. Lussier is not one of those filmmakers. As with "My Bloody Valentine," the 3D effect is very well-integrated, but amounts to little more than a throwaway bit of eye candy that adds nothing to the film overall; and with a story as half-baked as this, it doesn't take long for tedium to settle in. Like last year's faux-grindhouse experiment "Machete," "Drive Angry" is an awesome trailer hawking a lousy movie. The one bright spot: reliable character actor William Fichtner, showing up periodically as a commissioned-by-Hell "Accountant" tasked with bringing Milton back to the underworld; in his brief scenes, he brings a refreshingly mocking attitude to the proceedings that elicits some solid laughs.
Review of Drive Angry
