Faster

After 10 years in prison, Driver (Dwayne Johnson) has focused on one thing – hunting down the people responsible for brutally murdering his brother. Now a free man with a terrifying purpose, he sets out to find and kill all those on his list. But on his heals are two men who will do anything to stop him – a veteran cop (Billy Bob Thornton) and a hitman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) who finds his match in this worthy opponent. Now, the hunter is also the hunted.

 

To start, even though this movie came out in 2010 I did not see it until this year, so it will no doubt be in my top 10 films of 2011. This movie got quite the cold shoulder from critics, one saying the Rock was playing a man that had ice running through his veins, nobody would ever seek revenge in such a cold, calculating way........are they fucking crazy, that's EXACTLY what someone would act like, no remorse, no listening to pleas for mercy, just flat out kill the people that did you wrong & do it as fast as possible. I really have to give it up for the Rock, he is awesome in this role. After years of thinking he's all but dried up in adult action films, just putting in paycheck jobs for Disney, this was a very welcomed return.

When a movie needs that certain type of scum bag, the kind that makes you feel dirty just watching him slither through scenes, the kind that you need a have a shower & scrub yourself clean after watching the film, you CAN'T do better than Billy Bob Thornton. The man projects douche bag better than anybody else, he's fantastic. Again, after years of playing bullshit characters in throw away films he finally finds a film that can play his strengths to the max, & he's allowed to go full tilt. Not a over the top performance that one might expect, but a slow, slimy one but also one of tragic human nature, you do feel pity for him.

Along with the revenge theme, there is another string threading this film together. One of a hitman that has one more job in him. Played straight faced by Oliver Jackson-Cohen, his job is to take out Driver(the Rock) before he can kill his way through his list of evil doers. The main problem I have with this character is I'm never really convinced he is a killer. I enjoyed the back story of him being a broken kid, setting his mind to conquer anything he wishes & achieving success in whatever he sets his sights on, it's just I think the role needed a better actor to bring the out believability in the character. With Oliver all I get is a spoiled rich kid with a gun, not that that isn't part of the killer, it's just when killer mode gets turned on I'm not buying what Oliver is selling.

Director George Tillman has no doubt studied the great vigilante films of the past. I'm reminded of movies like The Driver(1978), Breaking Point(1976), Rolling Thunder(1977)....ect, just fantastic stuff!!, The films soundtrack is aces. I don't know if Geoff Foster is the man responsible for putting it together, but whoever did, it hits all the right notes from start till finish. Music is key to films such a this, just watch any QT movie & you get my point, when the sound cues happen & when it's done right you get this tingle that turns to a shiver, brilliant job.
9.5/10