Faster

Faster


This is not a sequel to the Fast and the Furious franchise, but it does star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson though. The movie is part Drive Angry and part Punisher. Yet, the movie is very uneven. It has a simple premise and keeps to it, yet the movie doesn’t attempt to rise above it mundane direction.

Yet, I love the opening with Dwayne Johnson leaving prison and running through the desert. And, he comes across his car and goes on a revenge quest to hunt down every one that was responsible for his brother’s death. The opening moments are truly brilliant, but I wished the rest of the film was like that.

Johnson’s name is simply given as “Driver” in the movie, which I liked too.

Having Driver go around and shoot all the people that wronged him was a refreshing take from Johnson’s more kid friendly roles of recent. He is truly an anti-hero. While I wouldn’t cheer him on, I can understand his reasons for killing. Surprisingly, Johnson has very little to say throughout the film. When he does speak, it is very little. It is certainly a throwback to the old Hollywood revenge movies from the 70s and early 80s.

There is a subplot with a Millionaire that moonlights as an assassin. He embarks on a mission to killed Driver. For the most part, this subplot feels like a different movie altogether, and I am not sure what the point was by including this character into the movie. It has very little to do with the revenge story. While I didn’t hate this subplot, I am not sure why it was shoehorned into the film.

The movie is a very hard R-rated film with people getting stabbed, slashed and shot. All that stuff is fine and good, but the wheels come off the story around the third act with the heavy-handed religious visuals and symbolism. I rolled my eyes thinking, “enough is enough”.

Overall, the film is mundane with some nice violent scenes (The Rock actually kills one guy twice). It certainly isn’t a good movie, but is entertaining.

Grade: C