"You know you’re watching a hardcore action thriller when they don’t even give the characters first names. After 10 years in prison, Driver (Dwayne Johnson) has but one objective – to hunt down and kill the people responsible for his brother’s murder. Now a free man, Driver tracks down the names on his list one by one, giving writers Tony and Joe Gayton a day off in the process. Hot on his heels are two men who’ll do anything to stop him - a veteran cop with a drug problem (Billy Bob Thornton) and a hitman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) whose only addiction is hitting his target.
After years of nauseating family films and wasted potential, Johnson returns to the action arena with an affectionate tribute to 70’s thrillers like Death Wish and Vanishing Point. He barely strings a sentence together in the entire movie, but that’s ok, for the most part he lets his guns do the talking (that would be both arms and one pistol). Car chases, shoot outs, unstoppable forces of nature - just about everything we’ve come to expect from a Dwayne Johnson action movie - delivered with style to spare by director George Tillman.
Oliver Jackson-Cohen is underused as the films quirky Killer, but his undercooked storyline is a welcome diversion all the same. Billy Bob coasts it for the most part, but even in cruise control he’s a cut above the rest. As for the girls, Carla Gugino automatically improves every film she’s in these days and Maggie Grace has never been more beautiful. Revenge is bleak in Tillman’s atmospheric offering, but the cars; girls and guns make up for any absence in humour. The plot twists are predictable but fun, and with Faster, Johnson reminds us why he should never dress up as a tooth fairy again."
AW
AW
No comments:
Post a Comment