'Faster'

'Faster' (R) (rental/matinee)

Writers: Tony Gayton and Joe Gayton
Director: George Tillman Jr.
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Billy Bob Thornton, Carla Gugino, Mike Epps, Maggie Grace, Tom Berenger, Courtney Gains, Moon Bloodgood

"Faster" is simply a revenge picture tried and true and it is really not that bad. Is it worth paying $11,$12 dollars for? No. There are some different and interesting things going on here and Johnson is cool but I have seen better revenge movies. Lately there have been revenge movies that are failures like Mel Gibson's "Edge of Darkness". "Faster" is a much better movie because it is simple when Darkness was too much into plot and too complicated. I don't need all these twists and complex back stories, I want to see the hero shoot people in the head that deserve it. If you are the same way you might go for this movie and like it. It tells it's story without clutter and simply delivers the goods as in kills. I had a grudging respect for this movie even though I think it could of had more oomph to it.

Dwayne Johnson plays Driver, a man just released from prison who was involved in a bank heist gone wrong. The men who arranged the heist kill Driver's brother and when he comes out he wants to murder all the people involved. There are also two detectives on his trail. One is played by Carla Gugino (one of the sexiest women on this planet but not in this movie) and one played by Billy Bob Thornton. Thornton just makes me smile every time I see him in a movie. Maybe because I keep thinking about "Bad Santa" but I just love seeing the guy act. He plays a drug addicted cop and the casting is genius and Thornton might put this movie over the top. There is also an interesting hit man character played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen who looks like Jake Gyllenhaal's younger brother but hotter. This movie could get Cohen noticed in Hollywood because he looks flawless and he is pretty good here. His character is also paired up with the beautiful Maggie Grace (Lost) who is also good here.

So the acting is better than it should be, the direction and action scenes are pretty good and the movie keeps your attention. I like Dwayne Johnson, formerly The Rock, because he is a damn good action star and has great screen presence equal to a Stallone, Willis or a Schwarzenegger. I could see him doing more action movies and it would be much better for him than those insipid family movies he was headed towards. Those crappy family movies killed Vin Diesel's career and was about to kill Jackie Chan's career until "The Karate Kid". The only reason I am ambivalent is because a major plot twist I figured out ahead of time killed it for me. I also didn't feel like I saw something that made any impact on me. There is a very great revenge movie out there somewhere and this is just pretty good.

P.S. "Faster" reminds me of the "B" movies of past decades especially the 70's and 80's. Along with "The Expendables" it isn't rocket science but the movie somewhat gets the job done. A "B" movie can be a great surprise like "The Hidden" or "Assault on Precinct 13" (76) but there can be bad "B" movies also. On a "B" scale "Faster" is worth a matinee show or a good viewing on cable.