Action, 104 Minutes, 2011
This really isn’t that bad of a movie. A modern interpretation of grindhouse classics it has all of the ultra-violent silliness you could want to see. The story – a condemned grandfather escapes from Hell to save his infant granddaughter from being sacrificed by a deranged cult leader – is workable.
William Fichtner is excellently deadpan as the otherworldly “Accountant” sent to retrieve this escaped soul. His scenes are really the high-points of the film (much more so than those featuring the oddly bloated Nicolas Cage). Amber Heard is competent as the ass-kicking, super-sassy hot-chick but her acting here tends to the ham side of the deli counter.
My problem with the movie is the name. “Drive Angry”? Really? The movie plays some lip service to a love for classic cars, but it’s superficial and insincere. There is a lot of driving, but it’s not particularly central to the plot and the most memorable chase scene is a classic Dodge Charger having trouble running down a Winnebago. Not exactly something that gear-heads would find exciting.
This is a movie about a guy escaping from Hell! Call it “Escape from Hell” or “Run from the Devil”! He has to save his granddaughter before she’s killed by a cult on the full moon! Call it “Full Moon Fever” or “Blood Moon”! Even if you want to keep the driving thing (and if you do, try to make it mean something in the movie) then how about “Satan’s Highway” or “Death Road” or just about anything else!
Anyway, despite the dumbass name and a phoned-in performance from Cage, this was still a pretty damn good time.
