Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Blu-ray - blu-ray, 3d
If you have any morals, this movie is not for you. Thankfully, I do not. Drive Angry is sure to offend some(the ones who shouldn't see it in the first place), for others, it will be an extremely satisfying affair. Packed full of F bombs, shot off limbs, and naked trailer trash, Drive Angry goes full throttle for all of its 104 minutes. As a huge Nicolas Cage fan(minus The Wicker Man and 8MM), he doesn't disappoint, but he wasn't the scene stealer. This honor would go to William Fichtner(the Accountant) for his hilarious portrayal of Satan's bounty hunter(in a way). Amber Heard also quite impresses as a strong female co-star who can hold her own in a fight.
While the plot is not incredibly complex(man escapes hell to rescue his granddaughter from a cult that plans to sacrifice her), it is enjoyable. Packed full of all the guilty pleasures and soon to be classic one liners, Drive Angry will not disappoint the sinner inside you. Drive Angry [Blu-ray 3D]
Drive Angry has trashy B movie goodness all over it. You have your excessive gore, nudity, foul language and one laughable plot, but it all adds up to a pretty enjoyable flick. The story is beyond simplistic. A guy breaks out of hell and has to evade capture while searching for someone very important to him.
Nicolas Cage sure has had way more misses than hits in recent years (Bad Lieutenant and Kick-Ass being the standouts), but I liked his mellow approach to this character. You would think of all movies, this would be the one he would go overboard, but he wisely tones it down a few notches. Amber Heard plays the sidekick role, which she tries to inject with toughness. It didn't always work, but she adds a dose of energy and is quite the babe. Did I say she is hot? The standout by far is William Fichtner as hell's accountant. Basically he is the dude Satan sends out when someone manages to escape. You can tell he is having a great time and like Cage, he doesn't stray into the overacting category.
The 3-D was okay, but for a film that claims to be "Shot in 3-D" I wasn't that impressed. The CGI ranged from good to average, but for a movie like this, I didn't expect it to be polished.
If you liked Planet Terror, Death Proof or Piranha 3-D, you should have a blast with this one. It's cinemas equivalent to greasy fast food among the current Oscar nominated fillet minions.
Writer Todd Farmer and director Patrick Lussier really seemed to make the most of their partnership once they started working together. On their own, they brought us films like Jason X, Dracula 2000 and its sequels, and White Noise 2. Other than Jason X getting a pass from loyal horror and Friday the 13th fans, you don't really hear much about those other films. Drive Angry is technically only the second time Farmer and Lussier have collaborated with one another, but their first outing together was My Bloody Valentine which was actually a hell of a lot of fun. Not to mention the two horror buffs are currently attached to two projects that seem to have been in the works for ages; Halloween III and the Hellraiser reboot. So how would Drive Angry measure up to My Bloody Valentine? Would it be just as fun and would the 3D be utilized properly? How terrible would Nicolas Cage be? Turns out that if you're a fan of the previous work Farmer and Lussier have become associated with, you have nothing to worry about with Drive Angry.
How is it that every character in the main cast is a total badass? It's because of that that it's hard to dislike anyone in the film including Nicolas Cage. Cage seems a little dull at first. When he mutters the line, "Tell him...I'm comin'!" it sounds a bit stiff and it isn't clear what type of performance Cage is going to give. Milton is actually Cage's most entertaining role since Big Daddy. He makes it seem so natural to be so angry while also being this unstoppable vigilante that just broke out of hell. Amber Heard's Piper comes off like she has a bigger pair of balls than any man she comes in contact with. She isn't afraid to go toe-to-toe with anyone and she usually comes out on top. William Fichtner may be the most entertaining part of the cast. He's been sent by the big man downstairs to retrieve Milton and bring him back to hell. His quick wit combined with the tricks he pulls off with that coin he carries around and his practically endless arsenal of superhuman abilities cause all eyes to be glued to him whenever he walks on screen. Then there's Billy Burke whose Jonah King character is a satanic cult leader convinced that he can't be harmed by anything from this earth. Jonah is such a despicable character that you're practically rooting for his character to bite it by the time his wicked plan is about to come to fruition.
In addition to the film's cast, the writing is fairly entertaining as well. If you're familiar with anything Farmer or Lussier have done, you can pretty much expect events in the film to get a little outrageous or extremely outlandish at times. To tell the truth, that's half the charm of their films and what makes them so much fun. Does anyone else remember how people were saying that films like Crank or The Expendables were just kind of fun action films that you didn't have to think hard about? While that statement failed to register with me about those two films since I disliked both immensely, it fits extremely well with films by Farmer and Lussier except their films have a little more of a horror twist to them. The dialogue stood out at times, as well. There's a line Jonah spits out to Piper that went something like, "I could shoot you in the throat right now and watch you gurgle while I eat my morning grapefruit..." Some may consider that terrible, but the way Burke says it and the context it resides in really hit home with me. Cage also delivers a rather standout speech about how he had to watch his daughter suffer in hell while staring into a barrel of fire that is pretty memorable.
The humor in the film slides into the storyline fairly smoothly. Everything from sarcastic one-liners to a rather obese man taking a picture of a naked woman lying on the sidewalk with his cell phone will be sure to get a fair amount of laughs. The coffee scene with Nicolas Cage is just really hilarious. All of that over black coffee and sugar. Todd Farmer's Frank may get the most laughs and audience reaction though, especially once Fichtner's The Accountant shows up. Drive Angry is just able to effectively blend action, comedy, and horror into this exceptionally entertaining film that engrosses your attention from beginning to end.
Drive Angry is just ridiculous fun. It has an incredibly solid cast, an excessive amount of explosions and high octane car chases, and there's enough blood and T&A to satisfy the most deprived R-rated film enthusiasts. The 3D deserves to be mentioned, as well. Having shotgun shells, severed limbs, various amounts of debris, and a countless amount of bullets practically fall into your lap should be a good enough reason to see this film in theaters. Drive Angry actually being an extremely satisfying and extraordinary action film is just a bonus. - 3d - Blu-ray'
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