Drive Angry 3D!

Neither my editor nor I realized that this was coming out this week until the last minute which is why it's so short. Mind you, there wasn't that much to say about it, if I'm honest. It's basically this year's Piranha 3D - total trash, yeah, but total trash that I adored the hell out of. Also, and I will be doing this from time to time, I have used my original review for the blog. If you want the edited version check out the link below. 


From channel24.co.za (Originally written 24 February 2011) 

What it's about

Nicolas Cage is back as Milton, an escapee from hell (Milton? Hell? Where do you think they're going with this?) who has returned to the land of the living to exact nasty revenge on a cult of wacko Satanic worshippers who brutally murdered his daughter and to rescue his kidnapped granddaughter that the cult intend to sacrifice as a way of bringing hell to earth. Only this time without his head bursting into flame.

What we thought

Nicolas Cage has been on a bit of a winning streak lately with awesome performances in The Bad Lieutenant remake and Kick Ass and just before it all comes crashing down in a few weeks with Season of the Witch, we have another chance to see Cage at his demented best. Drive Angry 3D has probably the worst title I have ever seen but that's nothing in comparison to just how rotten the film itself is.

It has some really over the top violence, plenty gratuitous nudity and sex and the kind of adolescent badassary that is more embarrassing than anything else. Oh and it's also immensely stupid. Here's the thing though: I absolutely loved it. Like Piranha 3D before it, this is (presumably) intentional exploitative trash of the highest order. It's the sort of film that if it was any LESS prurient, nasty and just plain dumb, it would have been very very bad. As it is it's just flat out awesome.

We have Amber Heard for the sex appeal and David Morse for some (ha!) respectability but the film really belongs to two actors. Nic Cage is, as I said, in full on nutso mode – the mode, incidentally that he is by far at his best. Best of all though is William Fichtner as hell's “accountant” whose character is just as out there as Cage's but he plays it with this hilarious deadpan viciousness that steals every scene he's in.

As for the script and directing, that seems a bit pointless in this context but, on the other hand, credit does have to go to writers, Todd Farmer and Patrick Lussier for coming up with increasingly mad situations for our anti-heroes to go through and for the gloriously ripe dialogue as well. And of course, kudos to director Lussier for actually putting all of that into such a stylish and yet puerile package. And in 3D that actually works, to boot.

Oh if only all bad movies were this good!