It could have been much more than it was (from a guy that's seen Refn's other movies)

Rating: Null/10 (17 September 2011)

I've seen Valhalla Rising, Bronson, and the entire Pusher trilogy, so I was no stranger to Refn's directorial style walking into Drive. I say this movie could have been much more than it was because it really seemed like Refn was going to jump out of his shell and surprise me with something truly original, but he doesn't. Admittedly, the opening scene was truly amazing. It reminded me of the equally incredible opening bank robbery in The Town in the sense that I felt like I was watching what a real life professional criminal would do in his element, rather than say Stallone or Schwarzenegger blazing his way through a tight situation. Unfortunately, as in The Town, no other scene in the movie really came close to the cinematic euphoria achieved in those opening minutes. It wasn't all downhill after that. The hotel room scene was awesome, but everything just kind of plateaued after that and took the old "they messed with the wrong guy" express lane through the rest of the film. I'm actually pretty surprised by all the good reviews on here. Don't worry, I get that it's a modern noir fantasy doubling as an homage to the B movies of the 70's and 80's, and that's great and all, but it really just feels like his same old style on a bigger budget, with bigger names, and a wider release than he may deserve. I really think Refn should have left the 70's/80's homage films to Tarantino. That's his thing and at least he makes it really fun.
Although Drive will introduce Refn to mainstream moviegoers, I don't think they're going to be ready for it. I enjoy his films, but admittedly, it does take a bit of patience to wait and see where he's going to take his stories. Their conclusions are inevitably going to be deeply depressing and without any trace of catharsis (trust me, every time). However, his deliberately slow pace seems to be frequently rewarding with the time to take in the beautiful cinematography presented throughout. With that aside, the moments anyone's going to really remember from his movies are most often the violent ones. Not necessarily due to their brutality (which they are) and take-it-too-farishness (please forgive the made up word), but the sheer shock of these moments. The slow pacing of his films seems to lead us into a false sense of security. Once we let our guard down, it's time for someone to either be brutally beaten and/or gruesomely murdered. I love all these scenes simply for their creative and disturbing effectiveness. However, I really would have enjoyed more of a Taxi Driver-esque big fat kill scene in the end, but that's just me.
In conclusion, although Refn may not have spread his wings enough to make Drive everything it could have been, it's still an entertaining display of his style and vision.
P.S. For people that are annoyed by the music, see Pusher 2 and Bronson and you'll see that it's more of a trademark of Refn's than anything else. For everyone else who hated the awkward long stares and pauses, go watch Valhalla Rising right now and be grateful that Drive gave us any dialogue at all.