Saturday, April 02, 2011

Faster (2010)



Faster (2010) is a movie directed by George Tillman Jr., who you might know from such films as Men of Honour (2000) or Notorious (2009). Even though some of them had a certain degree of exposure, in my opinion, they failed to succeed to its cast or storyline expectations, therefore turning Tillman Jr. into a not so appreciated director. That’s basically what I though once I considered watching Faster… but a strong calling from a man called Dwayne Johnson, also known as “The Rock”, was enough reason for me to watch this action flick. You see… Dwayne Johnson is by far one of the most charismatic people in show business that I like to follow. 

Since his early rise as one of top stars of WWE, the wrestler turned into actor, has established himself as a "house hold name" in Hollywood and although he’s been labelled as an action star, the man has good acting skills. Better than most of his peers in the “action world”… but that’s something for me to share in another post… for now I’ll just stick with Faster.

It’s a very modern and violent noir-style, fast paced action "piece" that revolves around various themes such as hate, sorrow, forgiveness and especially, revenge through the "Driver's" (main character) eyes... 
Dwayne Johnson executes this performance in nice fashion, as he gives life to a very disturbed and troubled anti-hero, who seeks vengeance upon those who killed his brother. In this journey, we as an audience get to experience a different set of emotions as the "Driver" tries to settle the score!

Yes, as far as sheer quality goes, Faster does not excel, but provides for outstanding entertainment. The story line may have its used and battered ways, but it also has a lot of gripping twists and turns. In little more than an hour and half you deal with various characters, each with their own back-story references, that to some extend provide for more depth in the whole resolution of the movie. It is in my opinion, that Faster should have more than 98 minutes in order to improve some details and better work its sideline plots. Nonetheless it remains a good movie to be seen for action movie goers and "Rock" fans, has he demonstrates once again his qualities beyond the stereotyped masculine features. Also, you get to see a good supporting cast with Billy Bob Thornton, Carla Gugino and even a small cameo by Tom Berenger.

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