1. It Isn't Drive
And here we get right down to the root of the problem. In making Drive, Nicholas Winding Refn created a ghost for himself: the film was so cherished, and such an obvious expression of artistic identity that every thing the director made next would be judged against it as a barometer. It's unfair, but that's how it works, and it seems like there was certainly something of a response to that in Refn's provocative agenda for Only God Forgives. He - or the film's backers - pulled a switcheroo, teasing a spiritual follow-up to Drive with delicious references to Eastern vengeance flicks and Refn's eye for a genre-mash, and presenting a pretentious, hollow mess of artistic insistence and very little substance that just about destroys every expectation (other than those focused on Cliff Martinez's soundtrack - which was another resounding success.) Chances are a lot of film fans will pay to go and see Only God Forgives on the back of Drive, expecting something similar, and they will have been utterly tricked. The sky-high expectation meter will make way for a poor audience reaction, regardless of what the critics say when it gets a release, and it will be because the whole film is based on a deception. So be warned.
You can read my full review of Drive here.