Review of Faster (2010) by Michael V — 14 Nov 2011

The Rock is back where he belongs and hot damn it felt good. And although he has made good movies in the past. This is the first one where after seeing the trailer I felt the "must see no matter what itch".

And never was I disappointed. This was just fantastic from start to finish. Right at the beginning as he is walking out of prison you see a man moving with a purpose with the power of a tank. And he never slows down.

Faster is a throwback to the merciless action flicks of the 1970s. Existential in tone. Ruthless in execution. It's kind of a cross between Death Wish and Vanishing Point. A pure, undiluted revenge drama that shows Dwayne Johnson really can walk the walk when he wants to.

The plot isn't very complex, but the pacing is beautiful, as is the purity of this amazing movie. In fact it's most major flaw is the twist is something you see coming from 5 miles away. Billy Bob Thornton does a great job too as The Cop, a lowlife drug addicted, slimy little lawman with days to go before retirement and one last case to solve.

And Oliver Jackson-Cohen is terrific as a yuppie hit-man whom I'm curious to see what he follows up with. And I love that they got all these good actors to play such small small parts. Moon Bloodgood, Tom Berenger, Mr.

Eko from Lost who's name I won't even attempt to slaughter, Mike Epps... and it goes on. And to finish this off I always felt the best revenge movies demanded 3 things. A signiture weapon, 60's-70's era American muscle car, and an expensive suit.

This did 2 out of the 3 wonderfully.