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Style Magazine

Film Review: Drive Angry

Feb 28, 2011 02:29AM ● By Wendy Sipple

Walking out of the theater after seeing this movie, I was at a loss on how to write this review. When I see a movie I often look for compelling characters, an interesting premise, a story arch to discovery and, ultimately, a film that's trying to say something.

Usually movies attempt to have good performances, good cinematography and, hopefully, overall good production values. Drive Angry had none of these qualities and seems proud of it.

So I could tell you the ridiculous plot about an evil man escaping from hell to save his granddaughter from another evil man who wants to sacrifice the baby in an attempt to bring Satan to Earth. Maybe you find that interesting?

The dialog is written so poorly that it was met with laughter from the audience throughout the screening. The behaviors and actions of every character in the film is so silly that nothing makes much sense.

And the 3D is used as a huge gimmick containing obvious CGI car, gun and body parts flying at you in the most awkward and distracting of ways. Add in tons of nudity, over the top gore and the most absurd action scenes I have ever seen, and that sums up Drive Angry.

However the filmmakers intentionally did all of this, so my pointing it out is like a guy trying to explain a joke, and I don’t want to be that guy.

So what exactly did the filmmakers intent with this movie? As far as I can tell they intended it to be fun and be cool. I can safely tell you they completely missed being cool. But depending on your sensibilities perhaps they succeeded in making the movie “fun.” As if to confirm this, while exiting the theater I overheard a man exclaiming, “That movie had everything I love, cars, babes and 3D explosions!” If this sounds like you then Drive Angry is your cup of tea.

FILMS LIKE DRIVE ANGRY : Con Air, the Toxic Avenger and Surf Nazis Must Die


Justin Buettner is Style's resident movie dude! How did he get this role? Well, he graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a Bachelor of Arts in film Production and a duel minor in Animation and Business with an emphasis in the entertainment field. He later went on to work on several independent films in various key roles including writer and later worked in the special effects field as a motion capture artist. He has since relocated to the Sacramento area with his family and continues writing for small independent films in addition to his movie reviews for Style Magazine.