"Anyone NOT trying to kill you?"
"No."
All the right ingredients are here for a cult-classic Grindhouse-lite story, but the execution is very hit-and-miss. Nicolas Cage gives one of his 'internalised' performances that aims for cool and falls short - not so much Drive Angry as Drive Faintly Seething - which he executes with an interesting air of detachment but has little impact for someone who breaks out of Hell to wreak revenge and save his granddaughter. This approach does work as a useful contrast to a terrific performance by Amber Heard, who throws herself into her role as Cage's sidekick with abandon; however, a strong female lead is no excuse for the deliberate and unpleasant misogyny on display here. William Fichtner as The Accountant, sent from Hell to pursue escapee Cage, easily gets the best one-liners and his wonderful performance steals every scene in which he appears; the rest of the dialogue is mostly profane and uninteresting. The set pieces range from lively (a Shoot 'em Up-style massacre-while-having-sex) to underwhelming (surprisingly, most of the car/chase sequences). The film was shot in 3D and looks good, even though the actual 3D effects are only sporadically interesting. Drive Angry will find a more natural home as a post-pub DVD: undemanding, underdeveloped and moderately entertaining.
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