Faster
One could make a case that Dwayne (formerly "The Rock") Johnson was one of the bigger action stars of the past decade. With films like The Rundown, The Scorpion King, Walking Tall and The Other Guys under his belt, it is certainly not a stretch to imagine Johnson in a balls-out action film such as Faster. The thing about Johnson is, however, that his biggest asset onscreen is his personality and charisma; this is what turns mostly mediocre films into films that are at least enjoyable. His one super-serious actioner, Doom, was a flop in just about every way, and Faster is Johnson's first foray into R-rated territory since then. Regrettably, it's a road he should have left alone.
For whatever reason, screenwriters Tony and Joe Gayton (whose previous writing credits include duds such as Murder By Numbers and Bulletproof) decided to give most of the characters in Faster descriptions rather than names. Perhaps this was to give the film an air of mystery or anonymity; but what it actually did was make the players less characters and more like caricatures, mere faces with no more soul or depth than a cardboard cutout.
Ten years prior to the events of this film, a man called "Driver" (Johnson) assisted his older brother with a bank heist. However, tragedy soon strikes; they are set up and betrayed, Driver's brother is murdered in front of him and Driver himself is sent up the river for ten years. When Driver gets out, he wastes no time in tracking down and murdering the people responsible. No lengthy speeches, no tirades, he just kills them, period.
Of course, a string of revenge-killings tends to attract attention, and soon two people are hot on Driver's tail. Firstly, there's "Cop" (Billy Bob Thornton), a bedraggled weeks-from-retirement detective who is fighting a lot of inner demons himself, not the least of which is a heroin addiction; and secondly, there's "Killer" (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), a former entrepreneur and thrill-seeker who takes contract hit-jobs for the fun of it.
I have nothing against revenge films; sometimes it can be fun to root for the bad guy, since they tend for the most part to take on a whole bunch of "worse" guys. But Faster forewent the humor of Payback and the flair of Kill Bill and went straight for the "dark drama", and it paid the price. None of the characters are even remotely interesting, or sympathetic, and there is of course no time given to develop them. Johnson has little to do but scowl the whole time, and Jackson-Cohen (an actor with whom I am not familiar) is a spoiled rich kid who could have been played by any good-looking guy. Thornton gives the best performance of the three, but his is a thankless task at best. About the only scene in the film with any merit came near the end, when Driver faces down a preacher (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) who reformed his criminal ways and now does God's work.
I hear tell that Johnson will be joining Vin Diesel and Paul Walker for next year's fifth installment of the Fast & Furious franchise. I have no problem with that, as it seems the perfect mix of adrenaline-filled action and comedic drama that fits right in Johnson's wheelhouse. It is, however, sadly ironic that his latest film was called Faster, because honestly, it couldn't end fast enough for me.
2 / 5 stars
