Title: Drive Angry 3D

Starring: Nicolas Cage (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Season of the Witch), Amber Heard (Zombieland), Billy Burke (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn) and Katy Mixon

Combining the popular movie genres of car racing, revenge thrillers and religious cults may sound like an odd mix to many film viewers, but the unusual blend had the potential to captivate audiences. When first hearing of the new action movie ‘Drive Angry 3D,’ led by Nicolas Cage, many fans undoutbingly thought it would help reverse  the actor’s floundering career, and make it prosper into what it once was. But once audiences see the film, they’ll realize that not even the most dazzling stunts will help a movie with under-developed characters and a seemingly hastingly put together story-line.

‘Drive Angry’ follows John Milton (played by Cage), a man who recently broke out of Hell to hunt down a satanic cult whose leader, Jonah King (portrayed by Billy Burke), murdered his daughter and is intending on sacrificing his infant granddaughter. Milton has three days to track Jonah down and avenge his daughter’s death, as the devil has sent one of his supernatural operatives, simply known as “The Accountant” (played by William Fitchner), to track him down and bring him back to Hell. Along the way, Milton picks up a waitress, Piper (portrayed by Amber Heard), who is eager to go on the road to get away from her cheating fiancé.

After seeing advertisements for ‘Drive Angry,’ Cage’s fans may have expected the movie to mark his return to the blockbuster action genre. After the box office successes of his recent films ‘Kick-Ass’ and ‘Ghost Rider,’ the Academy Award-winning actor seemed to be back on track to achieving the wide-spread fame he once rightfully garnered. While Cage was able to convincingly portray Milton’s pain and desperation of wanting to stop Jonah, he was unfortunately unable to prove what a great actor he can be with this role.

Cage’s lack of connection to Milton can mainly be contributed to the fact that ‘Drive Angry’s director, Patrick Lussier, who also co-wrote the script with Todd Farmer, seemed to want to focus more on the stunts than the plot-line, like most action films. Lussier, who previously worked with Farmer on his last directorial effort, the 2009 remake ‘My Bloody Valentine,’ achieved success with that film, as he was able to balance an intriguing story with intense stunts. However, he wasn’t able to attain that same success with ‘Drive Angry,’ as he created a somewhat confusing back-story for Milton and puzzling explanation of why he was going after Jonah.

While ‘Drive Angry’ seemed as though it would have an easy story to follow, Lussier and Farmer fail to capture audience’s attention right away; they don’t explain Milton’s past and current need for revenge early in the script. As a result, even if viewers know what the film is about before they watch the movie, they’ll still be left wondering how the characters relate to one another once they start watching it.

‘Drive Angry’s studio, Millenium Films, seemed to incorporate the use of 3D just in an effort to distract viewers from noticing the movie’s overall lack of purpose. While the film has an underlying message of doing whatever it takes to protect your loved ones, its continuous, excessive use of nudity, sex and violence overshadow it. Lassier seemed to use the 3D just to highlight the numerous gun fights and car races between Milton, Jonah and The Accountant, instead of fortifying the characters’ relationships with each other. Lassier should have eliminated the unnecessary visual effect to instead clarify the characters’ missions sooner in the story.

‘Drive Angry’ should have been an intelligible, relatable movie that would allow action fans to root for Milton and Piper while enjoying the stunts. However, Lassier and failed to capture what made ‘My Bloody Valentine’ successful; complex characters who know what they want, and aren’t afraid to go after it. The characters in ‘Drive Angry’ seemed unaware of what was going on around them, which will leave many viewers just as confused. The action film doesn’t do anything to thrill its viewers, or even anything to make them remember the plot at all.

Written by: Karen Benardello