Review of Drive Angry (2011) by Loner Moves . — 07 Oct 2012

The ending to a movie is extremely important. And in the case of this movie the false ending is equally important. It doesn't matter if you absolutely loved the first hour and change of a movie. If the last 20 minutes are not what you wanted, then the whole experience is wasted.

This is a movie that had me raving at once, bored by bad acting (the main villain, not William Fichtner's Accountant, but the guy in the red coat) and repetitive action at the false ending, and was then rescued by real ending.

The reason why I loved the beginning of the movie so much is because of the skill of Cage and Fichtner. These casting choices were perfect. The screen was dripping with charisma and command. These guys were completely immersed in their roles and ready for battle. The script was smart to cross cut between the two as they went at it.

Along the way, several other characters make their way into the picture, creating more tension for the most part. The film was surprisingly not too campy at first. Sure there were wild sex scenes and crazy shootouts, but the same amount of time and attention given to the action scenes was also given to develop the characters. We really got to get to know them while they were simultaneously kicking ass.

This formula works for a while, but Fichtner taken off screen for a good chunk of time and the dude in the red coat took over villain duties and bored the hell out of me. He was lacking Fichtner's confidence and persona. I lost interest, especially as a way too long action scene played out, offering us no super exciting kills or anything we hadn't seen in earlier action scenes. The movie then tried to tidy things up and wrap things up conventionally. That last sequence completely changed my mind on the film and had me feeling down in the dumps, until I realized that was the false ending.

The real ending came up afterward and had me feeling good, rejoining my two favorite characters, Fichtner and Cage. Nicolas Cage is my favorite actor, but I have to say that Fichtner stole the show. Bravo! The movie completely sunk when he was off screen. Cage couldn't keep it afloat. The best scenes always played out when these two were in the picture. Nic's Chemistry with the girl, Amber Heard, was marvelous as well, much better than I expected. She looks great too.

When it comes down to it, William Fichtner was the glue that held this movie together. He made everyone better when he was in the scene. He's a real team player and that's why he has been such a successful character actor for all these years. Unfortunately his great presence was missing when the movie self-destructed and gave way to dumb repetitive action scenes and low caliber acting from the villain, who made everyone else around him worse.