It might not be the crazy unhinged performance that fans of Nicolas Cage were hoping for, but for what it is, it is still an enjoyable low maintenance action film, if one that tries a little too hard to be intentionally dumb.
Dumb films can be fun, and I’m the first to embrace something that throws reality out the window and focuses on ridiculous onscreen antics. Drive Angry certainly attempts to be just this, mimicking the grindhouse/exploitation genre with all its blood, guts, naked ladies, fast cars and ridiculous over the top action. Sadly for Drive Angry, some of this total over the top-ness felt somewhat forced and somewhat at odds with other more serious aspects of the film. It is just trying too hard to be over the top, that in the end, it is dumb, but with little of the enjoyment that comes with that. That said, there is probably enough action (and just enough nakedness) to keep you from considering this question too deeply, that is until the credits roll.
