Review of Faster (2010) by Robert L — 28 Dec 2011

The Rocks got Stones...

"Justice is swift but vengeance is faster" or so says the tag line to Dwayne "no Longer The Rock" Johnson's movie Faster, but I suppose the question is, will this be a Rock Bottom or a Straw Dog?

It will surprise no one to know that Faster is a revenge action thriller, what might surprise us is that, it's not all that bad, sure it has a downfall or two, but Faster is hardly without merit, and it's a film that I have a personal interest in and here's why...

Faster is a film that doesn't screw about, it starts running 50 miles an hour and doesn't back down till the losing credits. That's an achievement in itself, that the film can run for just over an hour and not lose at any point momentum, this is especially true when we consider that for the most part it's a straight forward revenge movie with Driver (Johnson) hunting down the men who betrayed him and his brother many years ago.

But that isn't all that is in Faster, unlike most movies, Faster aims just a little higher and tries to talk about salvation and forgiveness, whilst moving towards an ultimate finish that must happen. The film is written by The Gayton Brothers (who's work I've never seen before), but if this is anything to go by I like where they are going. How the movie deals with forgiveness and vengeance is one that I personally respected and enjoyed, and it's done in such a way that you don't feel like the writers have just taken an easy way out in it's ending or development.

Now, there are some draw backs to Faster, for example because we have one narrative that is moving towards one single place, everything else around it, all the characters and places become pointless and neglected. For example, I can understand why the "Killer" character was included but if he was totally cut out of the movie it still would have been the same picture, and it's unfortunate because out of the 3 main characters, those being Driver, Killer and Cop, Killer is the most neglected, and ironically the most interesting, we are teased about his back story, his motivations; everything about him ,we are given clues for but nothing concrete, and it's a shame because what I saw of him I liked, a lot.

Also the weak attempt to give Driver a stronger back story (especially the stuff with the ex lover) is just a waste, it never stands in the way of the plot or film but it's time that I would have liked to be handed to Killer. Also it annoys me how indestructible Driver is, but then if he is the force of justice in the movie, then he should be invincible.

Now, standing as a Christian I feel this is a good time to talk about the reverend character and ending. Here is what I think... I liked it, I thought it was clever and powerful and true for what would probably happen when given that situation.

The three main leads are taken by Dwayne Johnson as Driver, Billy Bob Thornton as Cop and Oliver Jackson-Cohen as Killer. All 3 are great and Johnson shows just how far he's come from his days as the most electrifying man in sports entertainment. All the supporting cast are not really on screen that long as they are either killed or chasing Driver, but they are good.

Oh and nice work by Clint Mansell, another good soundtrack.

Faster is a film that starts fast, and finishes strong.