Saturday, December 4, 2010

Faster (2010)


Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson has always been one of my favorite entertainers. Even back in his wrestling days (the last gasp of the 'sport' in my opinion) he proved to be one of the best. He could act the character, get the crowd ignited and was one of the most terrific athletes out there. I worried for him when he made the jump to movies.

However, he proved me wrong. He is the kind of action hero that we want today. He can be quick and smart and brutal against the movie bad guys in a way that lets me know that by the end of the film that he will get the thing 'DONE'.

I even like his comedic roles. Like the effect Arnold had on screen with 'Kindergarten Cop' - the Rock just slides into those rolls with very little effort. He is a natural no matter if he is playing a good sweet guy or a good angry ass-kicking guy.

I would like to see him be the villain in some movie in the future because he really could pull that off well. I think of him often for the role as 'Namor - the Sub Mariner) who really should be part of the Avengers movie.

You got years before that one comes out. DO a Namor movie and give the role to Wayne Johnson. He has the body right and the acting chops to do it justice. There. Now you have a great character for Captain America III (which should many of the Invaders like Human Torch, Toro, and the Blazing Skull).

He is so vital to the Captain America during the war but he is more important to the return of Captain America from deep freeze by angrily tossing the hunk of ice Cap is trapped in and allowed the Avengers to find him. In the newest cartoon Avengers, they use the Hulk to fulfill that role in history.

Anyways, back to the movie. I love revenge pictures like this were a tougher than nails guy beats and shoots his way through the lower level guys in order to force a rematch with the man who killed his brother.

There is also a hit man after our hero who may or may not have had anything to do with the death of our hero's brother. The hit man is very sophisticated and uses his 'calling' much like a test - he is always making himself better and needs the challenge that the Rock's character provides.

So while the mouse hunts the cheese there are three cats after the mouse if you include the two cops who are also on our boy's trail. His revenge has a time limit because he will be caught - eventually and possibly conveniently by the end of the picture.


You are not getting Shakespeare here but you are getting what you want in a fun and fast way - an old school modern revenge western complete with a great mustang type car and a hero who never smiles or obeys any of societies laws. He just don't give shit.
Sure we all have seen this exact theme used before but this one stands out with great menacing villain and a hero who is more a bad guy than a good guy. The action is crisp and slick and the movie MOVES and kept me engaged throughout.

2 comments:

Paladin said...

I totally agree. We saw this flick the other day and it was pretty damned good. I like Dwayne Johnson too.

His weapon in the movie is a Ruger Alaskan, if anyone shares my interest in such things. The smooth cylinder version he shoots makes it either a .454 Casul, or a .480 Ruger. I've shot one in .454 and it is a beast. They will flat wear you out if you shoot them much - lots of recoil.

M. D. Jackson said...

.454 Casul is a HUGE gun. I've never handled or even seen one in real life but I had to paint a guy holding one for a book cover and I had to actually make it smaller than it really was because it looked ridiculously huge in the main character's hand.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has always been kind of a guilty pleasure for me ever since I first saw him in his wrestling days. I had no plans to see this but you guys have intrigued me. I guess I'll have to catch it.