Review of Drive Angry (2011) by Halofever — 19 Apr 2023

Now that I know the movie was made for 3D, the silly bullet effects make sense. Fitting that this call back to grindhouse movies is also a call back to the now dead 3D fad. This movie sits on the edge of terrible, perhaps a 2.5 stars out of 5 stars. I hit fast forward through some of it. I’ve seen these movies before, back when they low budget movies were a staple of late night cable television.

This film has a few stars aside of Nicholas Cage, but the appeal is clearly based on Cage and his characteristic antics. (I highly recommend “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” for a full Cage redux.) In one memorable scene, he has a gun fight while smoking a cigar, drinking whiskey, and making love to a woman all at the same time. Most of the time he is standing with his trademark stoop and trademark surly face. The inaction of the main character versus his reputation reminds me a little of “Dolemite”. This all part of the running gag of the movie.

Back in the day, these types of movies are never so much about the story as stringing together the scenes that the movie could afford to film. This kind of purposeful homage could transcend those movies. Remember that low budget films gave us movies like “Highlander”. A good low budget movie is possible. This is where “Drive Angry” misses. Instead of ridiculous 3D shots, we could have had something worth watching.