CHICAGO – Excelsior! Comic book legend Stan Lee’s famous exclamation puts a fine point on the third and final play of Mark Pracht’s FOUR COLOR TRILOGY, “The House of Ideas,” presented by and staged at City Lit Theater in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. For tickets/details, click HOUSE OF IDEAS.
Film Review: Life’s a Grind For Nicolas Cage in ‘Drive Angry 3D’
CHICAGO – Muscle cars, kick-ass dudes and foxy ladies have been staples of the grindhouse since Detroit had a pulse. Nicolas Cage joins that parade in the over-the-top road picture called “Drive Angry 3D,” lest we mistake it for the 2nd dimension.
Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
This is an audacious looking film, filmed in true 3D technology as a eye-popping, gun-shooting, blow-up-real-good carnival ride. The infamous Nicolas Cage seems destined to be the centerpiece of all this, but he prefers a low keyed approach to his bad ass driver, which is one of the lost connections in this by-the-book epic.
Nicolas Cage is John Milton, a mysterious man in a Buick Riviera. He is on the run away or towards something, but loses the car in the escape. He meets a fired waitress named Piper (Amber Heard) who happens to have the keys to her soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend’s Dodge Charger. Together they begin to pursue Milton’s granddaughter, who was stolen from his murdered daughter at the time of her birth.
There is a hitch in the form of ‘The Accountant’ (William Fichtner), who is pursuing Milton himself, and creates havoc along the trail. Oh yes, and the man who stole Milton’s granddaughter is Jonah King (Billy Burke) who runs a Satan-worshipping cult that relies on human sacrifice. It becomes apparent that Milton has a score to settle with King, and that pursuit provides the tension that needs to be broken.
Luckily, Milton has an ally in Webster (the always welcome David Morse), a mechanic who fixes muscle cars and has a few to lend of his own. The holy trio of Detroit – the Riviera, the Charger and the Chevelle – transport Piper and Milton along the way to the final confrontation with both The Accountant and Jonah King. The emergent souls from such a confrontation will determine the end of the road.
Photo Credit: Ron Batzdorf for © Summit Entertainment |