Faster (2010)

After spending the last three years making family-friendly movies and comedies, such as GET SMART, RACE FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN, THE OTHER GUYS, and TOOTH FAIRY, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson finally returns to the action genre in Director George Tillman, Jr.’s (Soul Food, Men of Honor, Notorious) action-crime film FASTER. In the film, Johnson plays James Cullen aka Driver, an ex-con who got released after serving ten years in prison and is hell-bent on getting revenge of his brother’s murder by going after the people responsible for it, while a troubled, days from retirement, veteran cop Slade Humphries (Billy Bob Thornton) and a young egocentric hitman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen – Going the Distance) are on his trail. The film also stars Carla Gugino (Sin City) as Humphries’ partner Detective Cicero, Matt Gerald (Avatar) as Driver’s brother Gary, Moon Bloodgood (Terminator Salvation) as Humphries’ wife Marina, Maggie Grace (TV’s Lost) as the assassin’s girlfriend Lily, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) as The Evangelist, Jennifer Carpenter (TV’s Dexter) as Driver’s ex-girlfriend, Xander Berkeley (Air Force One) as Sergeant Mallory, Tom Berenger (Platoon) as the Prison Warden, and Mike Epps (Next Friday) as Roy Grone. I thought this was a very entertaining action film, with a great look that reminded me of some the old Clint Eastwood and Steve McQueen action films from the 1970’s, with some great car sequences and I enjoyed the scenes when Johnson gets out his revolver and guns down his targets. This movie was filmed entirely on location in Los Angeles, Pasadena, and Santa Clarita, California from February 8th to April 27th, 2010, with an estimated budget of $ 24,000,000. When FASTER opened at #7 on Thanksgiving week on November 24th, 2010, it earned $12,200,000 and gone up against family films like HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART ONE and TANGLED. If you’re a fan of The Rock, action flicks, or both, I would recommend FASTER to you and all movie lovers.