Writer-director Patrick Lussier has crafted a love letter to car chase movies from the Seventies, to 3D movies, and to b-movies in general, constructing a heaping serving of movie madness that would make Roger Corman grin from ear to ear. Drive Angry 3D is as over-the-top in its fast paced, high-octane action as Pirahna 3D (2010) was in its outrageous sensibilities last year. Ever character, every set piece and every line of dialog is taken to the extreme, full of hyper-realized stereotypes that are elevated to art. When there’s an abusive, cheating boyfriend or a hot but weathered waitress ready to jump in the sack with the lead character or curmudgeon, old police officer well past retirement age, take that cliche and crank it up to eleven and that’s what is found in this exercise in excess. The language is raunchy, the nudity is prevalent, the gore is plentiful and plot is simple and too the point. Drive Angry 3D is B-movie gold. On top of that, Lussier, who directed My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009), knows the 3D angle and displays it with childlike glee.
Drive Angry 3D is far from a perfect film but it wears its flaws as proudly as its strengths. One such flaw is the film’s star, Nicolas Cage. In many ways, it’s difficult to see anyone else play John Milton; the role feels like it was written for just the type of exaggerated actor Cage has become. There are times when his performance fires on all cylinders, full of swagger and attitude; but, there other times that it feels tired and lifeless. The role requires an actor that fully embraces and embodies the larger than life persona, much like Kurt Russell’s Snake Plissken. John Milton is a cross between Jim Kowalski and John McClane. Cage comes very close to reaching that with Milton and this is one of his better performances in the past few years, but it still falls just a bit shy. Too old, maybe. Too restrained, maybe. Still, even so, when imagining someone else in the role, it’s difficult to do so with Nicolas Cage remaining a good fit.
Along with Cage, Drive Angry 3D has an excellent cast of supporting characters: Amber Heard, William Fichtner and Billy Burke. Amber Heard is insanely hot in this film with her foul mouth, sizzling good looks, affection for daisy dukes and a great right hook. She has all the best lines and nails their delivery - she’s a natural action star. The dialog is a cheesy as it comes and she just owns it. When her life is threatened and there’s no way to get out, she still gets up the villain’s grill and shouts “between now and then, I’m gonna [mess] you up!” Brilliant! Arnold, Sylvester and Bruce could not have delivered it better and have never - never, ever - looked as good. Billy Burke is Jonah King and he is slimy, corrupt and ruthless in the role. He’s confident and cocky and he rises above the confines of the cliched character. However, it’s William Fichtner as The Accountant that steals the show. His performance embodies the sense of humor found in the entire show. He’s sarcastic, charismatic and delightful. Then dropped right into the middle of this hot mess is Tom Atkins, a favorite cult character actor from films like The Fog (1980), Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) and Night of the Creeps (1986). Atkins, looking very spry for his age, chews on the scenery like a modern day Vincent Price.
The advertising campaign made a big point in communicating that Drive Angry 3D was filmed in 3D and well they should. No post-converted mess is this - this is 3D with purpose. Surprisingly (or perhaps professionally), Lussier rarely goes for the “coming at you” type gags that might be expected. They are there, for sure: guns pointing out of the screen, bullets and debris flying past your head, body parts striking dangerously close to your noggin’. But there’s also a great sense of depth and location enveloping the screen, drawing the viewer in. In one scene, Cage reaches into the twisted metal of an overturned car giving a full range of foreground, middle ground and background: wreckage in the front, fire raging in the back with Cage slinking through the middle toward his trapped prey. In another scene, the audience can see Cage at the steering wheel with a Johas King flashback unfolding in front of him, dangling just over the heads of the audience in the first few rows. The 3D is rich, exciting and expertly done, enriching and balancing the characters, dialog and story.
Drive Angry 3D is the perfect film for b-movie fans. Patrick Lussier fills the film with a distinct personality and flavor, similar to that found in his other 3D film, My Bloody Valentine. It’s that presence of b-movie passion onscreen that truly characterizes Drive Angry 3D. It results in a fun time at the theater. Lussier is one great script away from defining 3D horror and creating a masterpiece of modern b-movie cinema. He’s certainly not afraid to make the film he wants to, not to be confined to PG-13 doldrums. He lives in the chances he takes - the more outrageous the idea, the better; the more brazen the dialog, the more appropriate it becomes. With Drive Angry 3D, Lussier takes campy, cult chase classics like Vanishing Point (1971), Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974) and Race with the Devil (1975) and modernizes it with a hint of Supernatural and creates an exciting, indulgent, glorious, action-packed thrill-ride.
4 out of 5 (b-movie fans)
2 out of 5 (serious movie fans)
