Film Review: Faster

About the film

Faster is an action film that was released in 2010. The film has a run time of 98 minutes and a rating of 15 due to language and violence.

Plot

A man firstly only known as Driver, is just getting out of prison after ten long years. On his release, he heads out to get himself a car and some cash, ready for what is about to come. Years ago, Driver and his brother were double crossed after robbing a bank, resulting in his brother’s death. Now a free man, Driver is hell bent on revenge and be begins to track down every single person who was involved in his brother’s murder. However, with a cop and a hit man on his back, there is the chance he may not get the revenge he seeks.

What I thought

Even though Dwayne Johnson was laughed at years ago for attempting to make to move from wrestling to films, he has had a pretty good career so far. Yes, there have been some terrible films like The Game Plan etc., and he does do better in action films. However, I do like near enough everything that Johnson is in. When browsing on Amazon recently I came across Faster and at only £3, I had to have it.

Faster has a fantastic beginning. With Driver, played by Johnson, just getting out of prison, you wonder what the hell he did. There were questions in my mind as to whether or not he would be the good or bad guy. It doesn’t take long for the action to get going though and I soon realised that this guy was definitely out to get revenge for something or other. Johnson is great in action films as I said before. He has that determination behind him, the body to pull off being a tough guy and he also looks really mean a lot of the time. While I don’t think this is the best role Johnson has ever been in, he was extremely convincing as Driver and pretty scary at the same time.

Starring opposite Johnson is Billy Bob Thornton who plays Detective Slade Humphries. Not too much is known about Humphries to begin with, apart from that he comes across as a loser cop, someone not doing too well in his career. For the whole film, I was sat thinking there has to be more to this guy than meets the eye and slowly, the film reveals information about his home life and why he is on this particular case. Billy Bob Thornton was ok but only that for me. He was a good character, especially as the complete opposite of Driver but I wanted more from him.

What I wasn’t expecting from this film was some serious eye candy. Oliver Jackson-Cohen plays the hit man known as Killer. As soon as he came on the screen, the words ‘yummy’ left my mouth. My fiancé thought it was quite funny. No one knows why Killer is after Driver, only that he has his name because he never misses and is fast as hell. Oliver Jackson-Cohen isn’t only nice to look at though. He has this whole Jake Gyllenhaal/ Ryan Gosling thing going on and is the suave and sophisticated kind of hit man… if there is such a thing. He was also mysterious which I liked about him.

The plot was pretty basic, if I’m honest, even though it tried to have more mystery than was really there. The basic plot is that Driver wants revenge for his brother’s death which leads him to driving all over the place killing everyone on his list. The ways in which he kills them aren’t even that exciting or different either. Somehow though, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Everything happens pretty quickly, with Driver going from one target to the next. For a long time though, there is the mystery of what actually happened and why he wants the revenge so badly which I think is what keeps this film going. I really enjoyed how everything turned out, especially as all of the questions were answered well. There is plenty of character development but only for Driver but I didn’t mind that. I didn’t really care about the other characters anyway.

Faster is a good action film but you do need to pay attention while watching it.