Drive Angry (2011)

Very well executed

Too much of everything

People are voting emotionally.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Drive Angry is a low rent sleazy grindhouse type thriller starring an Oscar winner who has seen better days but has a big tax bill to pay.Nicolas Cage plays John Milton. It just so happens there was a famous English poet with the same name who wrote Paradise Lost. I think there is a clue here.Milton is a man on a mission. His daughter was killed by a satan worshipping cult leader Jonah King (Billy Burke.) King has taken her baby and plans to sacrifice it and hopes to bring hell on earth.Milton is literally after King like a bat out of hell to save his grandaughter. Milton teams up with a kindly waitress, Piper (Amber Heard) who he meets in a diner. As both of them go after King, a mysterious person known as the Accountant (William Fichtner) wants to bring back Milton from where he has escaped from and pursues him like a hound from hell.Burke hams it up as the cult leader, Fichtner seems to be having fun, Cage is a bit dull. It is entertaining tosh, a bit stupid and also overlong.

This movie is outlandish and loads of fun. The performances are all excellent, and Fichtner is outstanding. He made me laugh over and over even with simple movements.The dialogue is wonderfully clever, often in a very deliberately cheesy way.The pacing is terrific. The moments of "calm" work just right with the well-organized action sequences.I've lost track of how many times I've watched this, and I keep laughing.

Take a look at the poster for this film - it depicts Nicolas Cage driving a car (looking worried) and Amber Heard revealing flesh. To be fair... the film-makers can't be accused of misleading anyone. This is the epitome of good, dumb, fun.Cage plays someone who has escaped from hell (yes, seriously) and is on the road to tracking down his infant granddaughter who is being held hostage by some devil worshipers. Throw in Amber Heard as some excellent eye candy and William Fichtner as some darkly comic relief and you have a comic book style action romp.You don't really need much of a brain to enjoy this, simply be in the mood for some mindless action (and be able to ignore the frequent - and not particularly good - use of CGI blue screens). I will go out on a limb - please don't hate me, ladies - and say that this is probably more of a film for the lads.Grab the beers, put the brain on hold and sit back to cheer for the goodies as they blast and drive their way through hordes of expendable devil nutters.A true grindhouse-like guilty pleasure of a film. It's no classic, but you weren't really expecting it to be, were you?

The trailer for Drive Angry was a lot of fun!Yes, fun and Ridiculous Cage in the same trailer. Crazy! And as I finally got round to watching, although not in 3D, I must admit it had a less annoying Cage on screen and a lot of fun moments.But its still far from perfect!By far, and as everyone no doubt agrees, William Fichtner as The Accountant is the highlight of the film. His darkly humorous role is worthy of a film itself and he comes in at the right times when the typically Hollywood crap starts to bore you.Not a lot is explained about the main characters which seems to work okay if you are smart enough or don't really care.Drive Angry passes the time. It could almost have passed as Ghost Rider 3 as Cage plays a similar role and the direction, CGI and insane moments are very alike also.Worth a watch, but once is enough!