Movie Review: Drive Angry 3D Goes Light on Plot, and That's a Good Thing

Nicolas Cage doesn't get quite as crazy as we'd all like in this action flick, but overall it still hits all the sweet spots

Review in a Hurry: If director Patrick Lussier (My Bloody Valentine 3D) paid as much attention to every other element of his movie as he does to the 3-D, he could be really good. As is, he's made another competent gimmick flick that's briefly fun but quickly evaporates from memory.

The Bigger Picture: Drive Angry Shot in 3D, as it's apparently entitled in full, could have been something amazing. Nicolas Cage's face popping out into the audience? Guaranteed thrills and chills, right? Except that doesn't actually happen. Cage, beneath an appropriately ridiculous blond wig, does his Elvis impersonation throughout, but never cuts loose with the crazy in a way that would rattle all three dimensions faster than a shotgun blast. We know he has it in him, but Lussier couldn't get it out of him.

That said, it's enough that he plays an escapee from hell, teamed with Amber Heard on a mission to save a baby from a Satanic cult led by Twilight dad Billy Burke. It's just enough. Coulda been great. It isn't, but it's still good. Oh, and his character's name is John Milton, like Al Pacino in The Devil's Advocate, because Hollywood still thinks that referencing Paradise Lost is being subtle. (Sadly, correct.)

Meanwhile, since one villain isn't enough, we also get William Fichtner as The Accountant, a demon in a suit who's monitoring Milton in hopes of bringing him back home to the netherworld. It's an interesting character, played unpredictably for this type of film, and the one wild card where it seemed like the director might have temporarily had more ideas than just throwing stuff at the camera.

Again, though, let us stress, he throws stuff at the camera like a master, from shotgun blasts to naked girls. Do you care that there's no plot to speak of in a movie like this? Did you expect one? Stupid soap opera dramatics played straight are what brought down My Bloody Valentine, so this is an unpretentious step up. Yes, it would have been nice for the movie to exceed expectations, but it's hard to penalize it for meeting them and literally nothing more. If you want really crazy, hell-spawned driving from Cage, just wait until the Ghost Rider sequel. Meanwhile, enjoy his wonderfully terrible hairpiece.

The 180—a Second Opinion: What's David Morse doing here? You can't really call it acting, or serving the plot—it's as if he was just hanging out on set drinking whiskey with Cage, and Lussier kinda went, "OK, fine, I'll give you a couple of scenes."