One of the truly charming aspects of Comic-Con is how it can surprise you.
The undercurrent around Comic-Con 2010 has not been flowing 3D’s way … fans seem to boo every time it's mentioned. And these were the same people who cheered “Avatar’s” James Cameron and “Alice in Wonderland’s” Tim Burton last year.
Then “Drive Angry 3D” was previewed to the crowd in Hall H – and they L-O-V-E-D it.
If a Deep South muscle cars, guns and evil wasn’t enough to win you over, the star of “Drive Angry 3D” certainly was.
After the disappointing “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and his recent financial troubles, making fun of Nicolas Cage is almost a Hollywood sport … but you might want to shut up and get off the road when “Drive Angry 3D” revs up for release on Feb. 11.
On a shotgun-fuelled path of vengeance against the thugs that killed his daughter and took her baby, Cage, with Amber Heard in the passenger seat, really does put pedal to the metal in the film.
“Drive Angry 3D” could become a classic among muscle car movies. The grindhouse genre might not get much respect, but damn if this crowd didn’t love it and Cage.
“I like movies that raise more questions than answers,” Cage told the hall. It might sound like a standard actor answer but Cage then reminded everyone that he was also the guy who, for every “Next” and “The Weather Man,” was in “Face/Off,” “The Rock” and “Wild at Heart.”
“Was Nick Cage more 'Big Daddy' or 'Bad Lieutenant' on set?” a wide-eyed fan hesitantly asked Heard. Encouraged by Cage to “tell the truth,” the actress laughed, leaned into the mic and said, “Bit of both.”
Which he was on Friday’s panel, as well.
In top form, Cage took each question with instantly disarming humor. When asked by one fan if his choice of roles, like “Ghost Rider” and “Drive Angry 3D,” reflected a fascination with Hell, he didn’t miss a second responding, “You mean like this?”
The 46-year-old Oscar winner flexed his years as a star and his knowledge of his audience and his industry when asked what attracted him to “Angry.”
“It’s like the movies I really enjoyed from the 1970s, like ‘High Plains Drifter,’ ” he replied, “and adding 3D to that seemed a bit too special to pass up.”
Surprisingly, or maybe not, Nick Cage looks to have called that one right.
