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Faster
is touted as a
return to ‘classic’
action by its
creators. I can
agree with that to a
certain extent. The
film doesn’t have a
ton of dialogue and
there’s not a lot of
big flash to go
along with little
substance.
Faster
is about Dwayne
Johnson kicking ass
and getting revenge.
End of story.
There
aren’t real names
for the main
characters in
Faster.
Driver is an ex-con
fresh out of prison
looking for revenge
from the people that
put him in there and
killed his brother.
He’s got a list of
the people
responsible and he’s
out to kill them.
That’s his lone
motivation as a
character. Killer is
the hit-man hired by
an unknown to take
down Driver before
he can complete his
task. He’s a flawed
character, but more
on that later. Cop
is a drug addict cop
ten days from
retirement on his
last big case… he’s
got to catch Driver.
The action
triple-threat hits
full throttle with
Driver, Cop, and
Killer.
This
is a ‘B-movie’ if
I’ve ever seen one.
There’s no doubt
about it. CBS didn’t
jump back into
movies with
huge-budget movie;
they tested the
waters with
Faster.
Probably smart. The
script is fine, if
not flawed but the
acting is a little
suspect. Dwayne
Johnson is awesome.
The problems aren’t
with him. He’s honed
his intensity skills
long before he
started doing movies
and that’s what’s
required of him with
Faster.
He has to be intense
and have a
rage-filled way
about him throughout
the movie.
Billy
Bob Thorton here is
a bit… different for
Billy Bob Thorton.
He didn’t have a ton
of dialogue and
other than
motivating the story
of our main
character, there was
nothing about him of
note. Killer is
played by Oliver
Jackson-Cohen, and
he’s fine for what
he is, but the
entire character is
such a wasted
character that it’s
hard to find a lot
of good things to
say about his job
with the movie.
The
main problem with
Faster
isn’t acting but a
serious flaw is with
its characters and
how they were set
up. You can feel
something for
Driver; you root for
him to get the job
done. The other two
you don’t hate, you
don’t like, and
you’re not impressed
with. There’s
nothing notable to
say about Killer or
Cop and that’s what
kills this movie.
The
one good thing about
Faster
is the direction
done by George
Tillman Jr. He did a
good job with the
film. Everything
looks great and the
intensity he got out
of Johnson’s screen
time can’t be
undersold. The
fighting scenes and
the shootout scenes
were all very cool
too and that’s worth
talking about.
Tillman didn’t have
a ton to work with
here, but he still
managed to make a
watchable movie.
This release was
reviewed with the
DVD release and
there’s not a lot of
bonus material here
save for some
deleted scenes and
an alternate ending
with an introduction
from Tillman. These
are worth a watch
because they look
great, but the
theatrical cut is a
much better release
without the
alternate ending and
without the deleted
scenes.
Faster
is a typical
B-movie, it’s not
something you’re
going to get too
involved in and it’s
probably not
something you’re
going to watch more
than once. Johnson
was great and George
Tillman Jr. shot a
good movie. Other
than that the
character set up and
some of the acting
performances really
hurt the movie. It’s
worth a watch, but
probably just one.
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