MOVIE REVIEW - Faster

Don't call him "The Rock" anymore, call him Duane Johnson.

And here he is with his latest movie, Faster. Strange time of the year to release a movie like this. Very dark,. sad, spiteful, angry, and a movie filled with revenge killing, and no real reason to smile. Faster is the story of a young man (Johnson) who does 10 years in jail for his role in bank robbery gone wrong with his brother and his posse. The gang is then hijacked by another group, and his brother is brutally killed. And our "hero" is shot in the head - but lives.

After his release, he goes on a spree of cold blooded revenge killings of every member of the gang that shot him and killed his brother. OK. This sounds like a ton of other "B" to "C" movies that you've seen before. But after to peel back all the killing, and the anger, and the extreme violence this movie possesses, you have a pretty good story here. This story has the twists, turns, irony, and even some of the spirituality of a good Steven King novel, which it is not. In fact, this story may actually read better than it comes to the screen.

Johnson, as the lead is not asked to do much. He is a focused character without much to say, except quick targeted lines. He is a character of mystery, who tells his story through action not words. Much like a Clint Eastwood "Spaghetti Westerns" character. Billy Bob Thornton as the cop gone wrong cop who is tangled in this story is really good, and the supporting cast is well cast, and all pretty strong.

I went into Faster with pretty low expectations, and for a while, I felt like I had seen this movie in it's rare form many times before. And in some aspects, we all have. But, this is a pretty good story, that is just more than raw and brutal killing. Be advised, there is extreme violence here, and Faster is certainly not for everyone. It is charged with testosterone, loud at times , and chock full of most everything that can make some movies tough to watch for some at times. But after all of that is put on the table, the story here is one worth telling....or reading.

Faster......the story here is really pretty good. Think it might be a better read than movie. But with that said, this movie is much better than the low expectations I went in with. Limited audience, but in the overall body of work, better than one would think.