Wednesday, August 3, 2011

3 Short Paragraphs: Drive Angry


2011, Patrick Lussier (actually the guy who did Dracula 2000) -- download

This movie, another in the long line of B- movies being made to pay off Nic's tax debt, was just made to have pithy quips made about it. It has the plot of a bad rip-off of Ghost Rider, Nic's usual over the top acting and the feel of a grindhouse flick. But by the gawds, I loved it.

No, it's not good good. It's schlocky B good, in the way that it was made with a love for the grindhouse genre without going the way of the tongue in cheek homage. It has violence and fan-service and gore and wild stunts that would have 17 year old boys yelling out loud in the theatre. But it had some stylish aspects that made me smile with glee.

William Fichtner as The Accountant, no not The Devil but big D's accountant, is played perfectly. The character is not done with campy evil but with an amoral (as in morality is not part of his makeup) sense of responsibility. Cage's Milton (really, will any B movie fans catch the reference?) escaped from Hell and while it may have been for admirable reasons, he still did what he should not have been able to do. And surprisingly, Billy Burke's evil devil worshiping Jonah King is just a bystander in the connection between The Accountant and Milton when he probably feels he is the true focus. The idea that Big D would actually not care much for baby murderers, considering he was setup to punish them, is another thoughtful aspect that made me smile.

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