Review of Drive (1997) by Dean M — 09 Nov 2011

Hong Kong's dominance over American action filmmaking didn't stop visual effects wizard-turned-director Steve Wang from creating a film that not only matches the best modern Hong Kong martial arts productions, but surpasses many of them. In fact, it only inspired him. Beyond Wang's vision, the keys to Drive's success are two men; action director Koichi Sakamoto and martial arts star Mark Dacascos. The strengths of this film could have stopped here and the production would have remained a worthy effort, but a very solid script from Scott Phillips and excellent performances from the supporting cast.

I was exciting to see Dacascos makes his incredible kicking, punching, flipping, you name it. He's got speed, power, and grace. Brittany Murphy is perfect as a bubbly brunette armed with salacious charm Deliverance Bodine who manages to pull off being humourous, immature, insane, and desirable all at the same time. and Kadeem Hardison is the film's chief comedian and delivers a regular stream of decent one-liners, mostly adlibbed.

The choreography and execution of fighting is stunning, especially considering the limited time available. All of the fights are outstanding, although the motel brawl and the filmâ(TM)s final match are extra special. This is action really done Hong Kong style, old school.