The Driver
Mark Dacascos was a second-tier action star in the 90s, at the time when Stallone, Willis, Schwarzenegger and Seagal ruled the genre. He gave fun performances, sprinkled through the decade, in Double Dragon, the live-action version of Manga comic, Crying Freeman and, my personal favourite, Drive from 1997.
When we got into the 21st century he was great in the French Action/Horror Movie Brotherhood Of The Wolf and, through this decade into the next, gained steady work in TV & Low budget action films. His appearance in John Wick 3 recently brought his talents to a new generation of genre fans but sadly The Driver feels like a step backwards. It only has a few enjoyable moments in a film that felt a bit of a slog, despite the short running time.
In The Driver, the world has gone to shit after the zombie apocalypse. We're introduced to Mark Dacascos's character living in a compound with his wife, played by his Crying Freeman co-star/real-life partner Julie Condra, his pre-teen daughter and others. He works so that they can all survive.
When one member of the collective decides to go for a power grab, it sets a chain reaction in motion where many people die. Dacascos and his daughter, played by his actual kid Noelani Dacascos, hit the road to reach the safety of a place called Haven.
The film's narrative then follows “The Driver” and his daughter Bree as he teaches her to drive his prized bright blue BMW car and shoot at zombies but he's also carrying a dark secret which acts as a ticking time bomb to proceedings. The father and daughter team have good chemistry and Noelani Dacascos, in her acting debut, holds her own against her Dad - who, for trivia hounds, made his debut in the Nico Mastorakis directed, 80s, Z grade, action, potboiler Ninja Academy.
For a movie called The Driver most of the film is more of a character study that takes place in a car with poorly rendered driving shots rather than a kick-ass action flick the type that made Mark Dacascos a name to fans of the genre. We’re also introduced to supporting characters who appear and then leave, or come on screen far too late in the film to have much of an impact on the narrative or our leads.
There is one effectively shot fight sequence with Dacascos getting to show off his martial arts abilities. Sadly the other action moments are just the sort of running and gunning down zombies scenes that wouldn't look out of place in a Eurocine movie or middle season episode of The Walking Dead.
The Driver directed by Wych Kaosayananda is actually meant to be the third movie in a trilogy despite being released first and the “second part”, The Silent Blade, has not even shot yet. Dead Earth, part one, was released this year and, just to add even more confusion to this situation that I am sure very few people care about, was re-released as Paradise Z with a much more exploitative cover.
If you want to see Mark Dacascos in a more effective Zombie movie please track down I Am Omega which was released in 2007 as counter-programming to the big-budget Warner Bros screen adaptation of the classic book I Am Legend starring Will Smith.
This DVD release from Lionsgate contains a 12-minute featurette about the film's production. There's behind the scenes footage interspersed with interview footage with Mark Dacascos which is only worth a one time watch, much like The Driver sadly.
The Driver is available on Streaming and on DVD now
