Drive Angry (2011)

Nicolas Cage has gained a reputation for playing all kinds of characters with all kinds of backgrounds with all types of personalities. These range of behaviors have covered the banal, to the deranged. Nicolas Cage knows no bounds when it comes to acting. People love and hate him for both his dramatic performances as well as his idiotic ones. During the early 2010's, Cage was on the border of his popularity. He was still getting cast into films that were guaranteed to get a larger release, yet he also signed onto films that got less notoriety. Only some of which were critically well received. Much of them on the other hand failed to make their money back or leave any kind of an impression. Of them though, one action film that kind of went under the radar that should have gotten more attention was this feature. There have been plenty of hard R action films that contained enough interesting characters and witty humor to keep things going. Yet the premise to this movie feels fresh in ways others have no shown in a while.

Nicolas Cage plays John Milton, a dead man who escaped from the underworld to rescue his granddaughter from a satanic cult worshiper by the name of Jonah King (Billy Burke), who killed Milton's daughter. On his travels Milton gets the attention of Piper (Amber Heard), a wanderer looking for a purpose. All the while the devil's right hand man known as the accountant (William Fichtner) is looking to retrieve Milton and bring him back to where he belongs. Written by Todd Farmer and Patrick Lussier, the two seem to have taken what feel like a mix of different characters and made them into one. As an end result, the story is not the most unique, but it serves its purpose in creating likable characters. Patrick Lussier also directed the film, who has mainly served as an editor to other projects like Scream (1996) and two sequels after it. Todd Farmer has been more of a writer to movies like Jason X (2001) and My Bloody Valentine (2009). The real problems in the script are abrupt motivation changes and an unclear backstory.

Nicolas Cage as John Milton gives a familiar performance but nevertheless, the way the Milton character comes across is comical. So many lines are stated with such deadpan, it's hard not to laugh. So many things happen to Milton that he just rolls off, it becomes quite entertaining. William Fichtner as the accountant is another comical individual. The moments the accountant shares with other cast members is humorous just for the fact that nobody understands his purpose, which frustrates him. Also the fact that Amber Heard does not play a love interest to that of John Milton is a plus. Not every protagonist needs to have someone to fall in love with. As portrayed in the running time, Milton has no time for that. Billy Burke as Milton's enemy plays a fairly considerable opponent. He's not afraid to get his hands dirty and does not hesitate to kill. Burke is also known for playing in Lights Out (2016) and in the Twilight (2008) series. For supporting characters there are also appearances by several others.

These characters do not affect the plot in any real way, but they do bring some recognizable faces to the show. David Morse plays a friend of Milton by the name of Webster. His sarcasm is about an equal match to Milton's. Jack McGee has a small role as Fat Lou, the owner of a local diner. He has a funny exchange with the accountant. Also, Tom Atkins shows up to play the head of the police department. It's a role that only Atkins would easily fit in to

Fmovies: Let me first state that i don't really like Nicholas Cage. However in this movie it really didn't bother me all that much. So even if you're like me and don't like Cage you can still see this movie. ;-) On to the movie itself. It's a rather straight forward action movie with a bad-ass good-guy who chases a bad guy with and his supporters. Milton (Cage) has some history with the baddie and on his way to get to him he uses guns, big explosions and prefers travel by classic American muscle car. While doing so he picks up a hot chick (Heard) to accompany him on the road. That's basically it.

The reason i still give it a 7 out of 10 is that the action is pretty nice, most of the special effects are good and the story, although limited, moves along at a steady pace so you won't get bored. Fichtner's side character is also quite cool. The things a don't like about the film are some cliché dialogs with silly one-liners and the feeling that the makers aim for cult status. Too bad the movie isn't good enough for it, but if you hear a title like 'Drive Angry' you expect a simple action movie and that's exactly what you get. Always nice from time to time.

For every good film starring Nicolas Cage, there are a half dozen or so throwaway films that fade into the background. The 2011 semi-grindhouse film DRIVE ANGRY is pretty much one of those throwaways. I don't mean it's a crappy movie. There's enough here to keep the film somewhat entertaining if you're looking for some mindless fun. I suppose it might've been even better in 3D. From what I remember, this film was actually filmed with 3D cameras as opposed to the crappy post-conversion process. I've only seen it in 2D, so I couldn't tell you if the extra dimension adding anything to the experience. The story is straight out of the world of grindhouse: Nicholas Cage is John Milton, a man who's escaped from Hell, and he's on a mission. His daughter was murdered by the insane leader of a Satanic cult, and this same maniac has plans on sacrificing Milton's newborn grandchild in a ritual to open a gateway between Hell and Earth. But Milton didn't leave Hell alone...there's a mysterious figure known only as the Accountant on his tail with the intention of taking Milton back.

Sounds cool, huh? It sort of is. The movie's loaded with crazy action and violence, including a gun battle in a motel room while Milton chugs a bottle of whiskey and continues getting freaky with a barmaid while gunning down multiple opponents. The scene alone should earn this movie awesome status. It probably would if there were more scenes as off-the-wall as this one. The final confrontation where Milton reminds us why the film is titled DRIVE ANGRY is pretty crazy, but the rest of the action in the movie is nothing we haven't seen before. The action also suffers from weak effects. The movie had a $50 million budget but I guess it all went into the car chases. Seriously, cars are exploding at the slightest hit and there's plenty of opportunities for tossing cars here. What CG is in the movie, is generally pretty terrible. When Milton uses his "god-killer" in the finale, I nearly laughed at a moment when we're supposed to be cheering. When it comes to gore effects, I always prefer practical over CG and the practical effects in this film, while not always perfect, were much better.

I understand that this film is following in the recent trend of bringing the grindhouse film back to mainstream (not that that's a bad thing, e.g. GRINDHOUSE, HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN), but even characters in a grindhouse film need to be interesting. Milton's character has a cool premise: he's busted out of Hell. So why is his character so boring? Cage delivers his lines with the energy of someone whose just been woken from his afternoon nap. For a man who's escaped from the bowels of the underworld, he sure doesn't have a whole lot of passion for his mission. Someone should've reminded him the movie's called DRIVE ANGRY, not DRIVE PEEVED. Amber Heard is a waitress who finds herself drawn into Milton's quest and, in addition to providing some amazing eye candy, is the only one who seems to care what's going on. The real scene-stealers in this movie are the villains. Billy Burke is downright creepy as cult leader Jonah King with his Southern drawl and a self-righteous attitude that convinces his followers that this man knows what he's doing. More than anyone, the best performance in the film comes from William Fichtner as the Accountant. He's mysterious (instant cool points for any character) and deadly, cool and calm as he trails Milton and dispatching anyone who g

Drive Angry fmovies. The title says it all. This is a throw back movie to the 70's drive in genre. Don't expect more and honestly that's enough. Some times you are looking for a smart movie like Traffic or Fargo, sometimes you want terms of endearment, but sometimes you just want to grab a hot dog, some pop corn, coke in a real bottle, and get on the roller coaster for the simple thrill of it all. You are looking for good looking cars, good looking girls, action, and a chance to forget about reality, shut down your brain, and get lost in absurd fantasy. That's what this movies is all about,no deep message, just fun. I love the charger in this flick. The chevelle is nice too, but unlike the star character, I'm partial to the charger :-) I would have like to see it remain through out the entire movie, but at least it's there for most of it. Nicolas Cage has been given a hard time lately for his choice of movies. I enjoy him in just about every movie he makes. Whether action, fantasy, family, or some bizarre niche film he's worked on. He always gives a solid performance. I hope to see a second one of these. Not likely, but I can hope.

I vaguely remember seeing this in theaters and even then I loved it! This is an awesome Nicolas Cage flick among many of his beloved films. Even has one of my favorite actors Pruitt Taylor Vince in it along with the gorgeous Amber Heard, David Morse, and darkly brilliant William Fichter as the accountant. Patrick Lussier directed a cinematic experience with beautiful cinematography while being morbidly edgy; totally bonkers in the most fun mindless way!

This goes way beyond "guilty pleasure" all the way to "must-see trash." Does everything that "Grindhouse" failed to do. Dirty, gory, violent, but never unpleasant from start to finish. Patrick Lussier keeps the action efficient and picturesque. Nicolas Cage in one of his only successful forays into the action genre. Amber Heard as a worthy and most attractive sidekick. David Morse and Tom Atkins expertly holding up the "oldster" side of the street. William Fichtner in a performance that would have been a shoo-in for a supporting Oscar nomination if the movie were respectable. But thank goodness--it's thoroughly disreputable. And did I say fun? Let me say it again: fun!