Rápida Vingança

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

A former bank robber (Dwayne Johnson) is released after serving a lengthy prison sentence, with only one thing on his mind- cold, brutal revenge on all those who were involved in his brother's murder all those years ago. But as he goes about his deadly mission, he finds himself on a personal, emotional inner battle as he considers the possibility of redemption and forgiveness.

There's nothing unusual about an ex wrestler trying to eke out a post wrestling career by appearing in low budget, straight to DVD action films or maybe the odd supporting role in a big screen action thriller. And everyone would have had every reason to write off Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson as one such example from the off set. But here we have an ex grappler who appears to have gone above and beyond and made an impression on critics and cinema goers alike that not many others have. He's considered to have a charisma and charm that makes him a natural 'actor' and not just another ex fighter pretending to be a real such thing. While I don't necessarily agree with all this appraisal, I can't deny what I see, which is just such. And while Faster has gone straight to DVD, there is undoubtedly an air and atmosphere to it that isn't apparent in your average such film.

There is a clever, high concept element to it in the way all the characters aren't given proper names, but simply descriptions of them, i.e. 'Driver' or 'Receptionist', as we could know their real names, but we might have to be killed if we did. But Faster is aiming to be more than your average DVD action film in more ways than this. It is a cold, brutal story of a man on a mission of honour and sworn vengeance that he can't switch off, and it plays out in this hard, unforgiving way, before the power of redemption and forgiveness dawn on him and he is forced to search his own soul and make sacrifices of himself before he crosses the line and loses any sense of moral authority.

While the end impression doesn't leave the powerful impact it quite could have, this is an undeniably ambitious and surprising action thriller that delivers a lot more than it promises. ***

FASTER sees Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson returning to the fold of action cinema after wasting his time in dumb comedies and kiddie movies. This is a straightforward revenge saga about a man betrayed by a criminal gang who finally leaves prison and sets out on a path of vengeance. None of it is remotely surprising, but the story is handled with a certain amount of finesse and there's nary a dull moment along the way.

I've been a fan of The Rock since his days in THE MUMMY RETURNS and he acquits himself well with the material here, playing basically a brooding character who isn't much given to humour or dialogue. Supporting him is a typically kooky Billy Bob Thornton as a drug-addicted cop and Oliver Jackson-Cohen (WORLD WITHOUT END) as a dedicated hit-man. More briefly-seen cast members include Tom Berenger, Moon Bloodgood and Jennifer Carpenter, all of whom do well with the brief screen time they're allowed. Watch out for the opening song, a nice little shout out to the 1970s polizia sub-genre.

The problem with FASTER is that the material is rather light and there's not enough of it to fill out the running time; as a result, we get a lengthy and uninteresting sub-plot about the British hit-man and his relationship with TAKEN actress Maggie Grace. Jackson-Cohen is miscast and in any case the character is a waste of time who drags down the enjoyment factor whenever he appears. I had no idea what he was doing here but this sub-plot alone is enough to knock a couple of stars off the rating. Other than that, FASTER is enjoyable enough and has plenty of twists and action to keep you watching if not entirely satisfied.

Driver (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) has just completed a dime in the slammer and is looking for revenge against those who not only put him there, but also killed his brother. With a hit list in hand he driver through the desert of Nevada in search of his targets while also being pursued by a contract killer (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) and a veteran cop (Billy Bob Thornton).

The Rock isn't as strong an actor as he is built. Physically he's imposing, but much of the film leaves him short on spoken material. I'd call this a good call given that his most dramatic scenes aren't believable. Making up for his silence are the creatively named Cop and Killer who both explore relationships and contemplate the bookends of careers.

From a genre-free perspective Faster has the needed pieces to make for some compelling cinema. Unfortunate for the ticket buyer, a likely action connoisseur, Faster has very little action. Driver's checklist is a breeze; most of his prospective victims put up zero fight whatsoever. When the bad guys aren't even trying it's difficult for me to get excited. I've had tougher times finishing grocery lists.

Then there's the story involving Killer. Whatever stoic, forceful appeal Driver displays is contrasted by the arrogance of Killer. This is fine by most measures but Killer never lives up to the hype painted around him. It seems that the title comes from his exclamation that Driver is a faster draw with a pistol, but it would have been just as descriptive to call him inaccurate. This man of adventure is willing to concede that a getaway driver betters him with a gun; I'd rather not tell that to my concerned girlfriend if I were him. I never got the feeling of the game between the two and a highflying car stunt from the trailer, which was absent from the finished product, could hint at a more involving struggle between the characters.

Faster is directed by George Tillman Jr. with high energy. The general look of the film is a slightly more colorized, bleach bypass film look of many recent grungy movies. The editing is crisp and CGI use is limited to being tastefully unobtrusive. Jokes and gags are few in number but every once in a while one crops up to lighten the mood. Overall, very strong pacing with some well incorporated flashbacks and slow motion.

The lack of a classical showdown really hurts Faster, which otherwise measures up as one of the best action/revenge films of recent years. It's getting late in his career for Dwayne to be learning the ropes of what should be his bread and butter, but it's good to see him try.

To start of, this movie is not groundbreaking and I doubt it is going to claim to be. It's a simple revenge thriller with a few plot twists. That's why I did not give it a full score.

But those things aside, this movie was quite fun to watch. Loved how Dwayne Johnson finally decided to get back to his action roles after the lame kid movies he had starred in lately. His screen presence was awesome, and kinda reminded me of the good old times while he was wrestling.

The music and the setting were awesome, it really did remind me of the 70's revenge thrillers. The entire movie was like an ode to the old dark and moody revenge movies just as Kill Bill was. I believe they got the setting and tone of the movie quite right, and the music itself was awesome. Nothing flashy just melancholy sounding from beginning to end.

The action scenes were quite good since Dwaynes character (The Driver) just oozed of cold blooded anger and hatred. Making the showdowns quite interesting and funny at one point as well. The other characters were entertaining as well, The Killer and The Cop. Each had their own story going on until they get intertwined with each other as the movie progresses.

Overall I loved the movie and I feel anyone who is wanting to check out a action flick this weekend should definitely check this movie out. It will be worth the money spent if you are looking to be entertained.

I expected the kind of "Fast and Furious" brainless action movie, but it's actually an enjoyable thriller with a certain degree of wit. Definitely better than expected.