Competing for the ‘Most Mental Film of 2011’ award is Drive Angry 3D, Nicolas Cage’s latest movie which aims to to get trashy movie lovers a-talking. So is this one for the ‘cult classics’ box?

In a word, no. But Drive Angry is an occasionally funny ride anyway.

A too-cool-for-school Cage plays Milton, a dead man who has escaped from hell in order to track down the satanist cult who killed his daughter and kidnapped his granddaughter for sacrifice. Sure. He is also joined by his hot-pant clad sidekick, Piper (Amber Heard), who almost has as much balls as Milton, at one point beating the crap out of a naked woman when she finds the randomer sleeping with her boyfriend. Nice.

The two go on a hunt for justice, tailed by The Accountant (William Fichtner) who is sent by Satan to grace earth with his brilliant one-liners and throw Milton back into the furnace. With an opening line that quashes all others in the film, Fichtner is without doubt the most memorable part of this occasionally amusing yet surprisingly dull movie and it is his restrained supporting appearances that keep you hungry for more.

After a promising 3D opening which sees Cage cruising his way out of hell, causing road havoc along the way and proving once and for all that Cool Guys Don’t Look At Explosions, Drive Angry dwindles, with an insane plot that fails to engage and makes little use of the 3D feature it boasts.

Drive Angry tries hard to be as in-your-face and ridiculous as possible but somehow manages to miss getting the ‘so bad it’s good’ title that it’s so desperately after. Cage, often weirdly charming in his questionable career choices, is forgettable and there’s little wow-factor about the fight scenes, made memorable only by some lol-worthy lines (and one instance when Milton defeats a load of men while he’s sexing a lady friend and smoking on a cigar).

Drive Angry 3D is fun enough while it lasts and it’s worth watching for Fichtner alone but all-in-all, this one just can’t keep up with its own demands. And the most annoying thing? There isn’t even much angry driving.

Read our interview with Drive Angry 3D star William Fichtner here.