Every so often, I decide to check out a Nick Cage movie purely because, I dont think I have a proper measure of the guy yet. and no matter how many movies I see with him in, I never quite feel any closer to figuring out if he’s some kind of cult cinema genius, or someone who just knows a good grift when he’s onto one.

His turn in ‘The Wicker Man’ makes me queasy. His turn in ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’ showed me that he at least has SOME degree of self awareness. and ‘Drive Angry’ (A film I took a chance on a few years ago on a whim) is one of those films that I feel really played into his strengths as a performer.

I’ve seen this one best described as a ‘direct to video’ action flick. But with a budget. and thats pretty much what this is, the plot has Cage playing a demon on the hunt for a baby believed to be his long lost relative, while another shady demon going only by ‘The Accountant’ hunts him down to return him to hell. With a down on their luck Floridian woman in on the ride after Cage’s character saves her from an abusive boyfriend.

I dont know how much nuance I can deep dive into really with this one if im being honest. Its a big dumb action movie where something is either being exploded, shot or shagged every 7-10 minutes or so. Cage plays a wonderfully cool and distant character with some AMAZING line deliveries on the cards. This is a film that knows pretty much immediately what its supposed to be, and for better or worse plows STRAIGHT into that genre violently.

The plotlines ludicrous, the pacing is breakneck, the tone is messy, but fun. The ending kind of fizzles a little bit and the characters are all paper thin. but this really isnt trying to win you over with story. its trying to win you over with scenes like Nick Cage fighting 10-12 armed men in a motel room while he has sex with a woman AT THE SAME TIME. AND drinks bourbon…AT THE SAME TIME.

The directions fine enough, I have no complaints other than the breakneck pacing does kind of make it feel like your being thrown around a fair bit, which if your not in the headspace for that, can be problematic.

Theres also several VERY ropey CG pieces here which have not aged well and take you out of the action. This film also came out around the time stereoscopic 3D was becoming a thing, so we have plenty of gratuitous ‘depth’ play, that…on a 2D tv looks weird and feels forced.

The cine is fine enough, though a little over simplistic (it feels like someone REALLY wanted to be Edgar Wright here) and the grungey colour scheme doesnt exactly lift it up…Im actually quite dissapointed about that, with a more vivid and colour led palette, this could have really gone against the grain of the time and been quite interesting.

The editing is seizure inducing in places and feels a little thrown together which is a shame. I feel like it could have maybe done with one more pass through on cuts, and some of the effect plugins used are generic built into the software ones that stand out like a sore thumb.

Performances are fine, Im going to celebrate any film that has Nick Cage playing an aloof demon alongside Tom Atkins as a sheriff trying to take him in (some of the best lines and physical acting come from this pairing) the rest of the cast are a little generic, but fine enough.

Honestly? I dont really know WHY this film bombed, other than I think it may have been targeting the wrong audience. this is 90 minutes of sex, stunts and explosions with enough of a plot to just about hold it together, I think it does what its trying to do better than most coherently plotted action films. and the casting really is the cherry on the cake for this one in my opinion.

I’ll happily watch ‘Drive Angry’ again, almost certainly so…It may not be for a little while as I need to calm down after so many gunfights…but I absolutely will!

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/drive-angry/1/