DRIVE ANGRY

 

 

Drive Angry is a rather weird-ass film in a rather long line of weird-ass films that actor Nic Cage has done in recent years (Bad Lieutenant, anyone?). In Drive Angry, Nic plays a deceased criminal who escapes out of Hell to rescue his infant granddaughter from being sacrificed by a--you guessed it!--Satanic cult led by a Jim Jones-type who's hell-bent (pardon the pun!) on destroying humanity or some such thing. Along the way, Nic's character is joined by a hot-as-hell waitress played by hot-as-hell actress Amber Heard who spends the film wearing these shorty-shorts and/or some other type of tight apparel. Anyway, Nic & Amber's characters spend their time dodging not only the cops but this Satanic assassin-type guy called The Accountant who poses as an FBI agent who seeks to return Nic's character to Hell where he clearly belongs. Anyway, Drive Angry is an appropriate title for this film as at least three-fourths of the film consists of car chases (when, of course, Nic's character isn't blowing people away!). It should come as no surprise that this film, along with pretty much every other Nic Cage film of recent years, took a drubbing not only from critics but at the all-important box office. Granted, this film--as, again, with other recent Nic Cage flicks--isn't for everyone as it's more likely to appeal to fans of those Grindhouse-style "uber" violent flicks from the seventies of which this film is clearly mirrored after. It's actually kind of similar to Nic's comic book flick the previously-reviewed Ghost Rider, although, at least in my oh-so-humble opinion, Drive Angry is more bad ass than that flick (especially its sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance!). And, yes, in spite of what a good number of the "critics" said about Drive Angry, I did rather enjoy this film, although I think it would've been more interesting if it showed Nic's character actually breaking out of Hell (but then, I'm rather weird-ass that way!). A sidenote: I'll give Nic Cage credit in one area: From all the drubbing he's taken in recent years not only for his choice of movie roles but his rather weird-ass off-screen antics (Google it if you dare!), he's apparently not afraid to take on movie roles that other actors of his (former?) caliber--remember, he HAS won an Oscar--would probably not take (but then, he probably does it for an apparently much-needed paycheck given his reported financial woes, but I digress!).