Faster

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Carla Gugino, Tom Berenger, Maggie Grace, Mike Epps, Moon Bloodgood, Jennifer Carpenter, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Directed by: George Tillman Jr.
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama
2010

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A getaway driver (Dwayne Johnson) is just released from prison. He goes on a rampage to seek revenge on those responsible for his brother's death.

Review:
Tim: Before I make any criticisms about this film, I want to say that I'm so thankful that The Rock (do I have to call him Dwayne Johnson?) is back to making action films. This is where he belongs. I know no one wants to be typecast, but if I see Johnson in one more children's film, I'm going to scream. He needs to be in movies where he has a gun and is shooting people.

That's a fact. It's just not fun watching Johnson make a complete idiot out of himself in kid-friendly fare. I sincerely hope he's gotten that out of his system or fired his agent, because those movie suck. It's time for Johnson to return to action. I was interested to see the last time he was in a legitimate action movie. It's actually pretty surprising- it was 10 films and 5 years ago. The film? Doom- and it was terrible.

So, as you can see, it's been far too long. I was very, very excited for The Rock to return to action movies. Unfortunately, the movie he chose was Faster. There's nothing especially horrible about this movie, except that it's a simple, generic movie that features nothing new or particularly exciting. It simply rehashes ideas from other films that were better. Sure, it does try to throw in a few curve balls, but these can't save the movie.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this film is that Johnson has so very few lines. The vast majority of the time, he stands around looking tough and angry. We wanted him back in action movies, but we also wanted to hear him actually utter some words now and then. He had too little to say, which I found boring and disappointing. I like Johnson, and I wanted to hear him talk more, not just look all hard and angry.

The supporting cast is good. We have Billy Bob Thornton and Carla Gugino as cops, Tom Berenger in a worthless 30 second appearance (but it's still Berenger), Maggie Grace (Lost!) with a decent role, Mike Epps, Moon Bloodgood, Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter!), and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Lost!). Two actors from Lost = bonus points for the film. Not everyone has a great role to play, but I legitimately enjoyed seeing all these actors in the same film.

Anyway, this film does have some decent action scenes, a few nice surprises, and several thrilling moments. However, these aren't enough to overcome a mostly recycled story, little character development, and overall, a general feeling of silliness. I wish I could have liked this movie, but it didn't do enough to win me over. Welcome back to action, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson- now try to focus on making an actual good movie.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Doom, Southland Tales, The Rundown, Taken, Man on Fire