- About   -   Contact   -   Links   -   Tools   -   Archive   -   Film -



Wednesday, November 24, 2010

For the sake of not having to write the same intro a million different ways throughout the rest of time, just know that this column avoids the overly long and sometimes dull process of full film reviews and instead opts to break things down based on what I thought going in, what happened while I was there and what I learned at the end of it all.  Thanks for reading!




The Breakdown - Faster

The Impression:

A big burly action flick featuring fast cars, attractive ladies, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson busting heads like we’ve been expecting him to since The Rundown.


The Reality:

What ever happened to The Rock? He played football, he was an electrifying wrestler, he starred in cult-favorite The Rundown - he had all the makings of a modern day action hero. And then, perhaps lured by the scent of freshly printed money, he turned to child-friendly comedic fare. Faster, a film that promises explosions and violence and epic car chases, doesn’t help Mr. Johnson’s resume either. Completely squandering the premise, this "revenge" film turns in to a barely noticeable mystery that fails to use Dwayne Johnson’s talents as a sheer wrecking ball of violence. Instead it wraps itself, meekly around a story of redemption that features Billy Bob Thornton as a drugged-out cop, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen as an assassin in need of therapy.

What I wanted most was Dwayne Johnson rampaging through the streets, beating up bad guys, tearing people’s heads off, unloading his firearm in public places. Instead Faster tries to attach sentimentality to the idea, completely neutering any sense of danger or excitement.


The Lesson:

You can’t trust The Rock anymore. Everything he does comes candy coated in family friendly gloss.



 

Noah Sanders is the blog/news editor at Light In The Attic and a contributor at Sound On The Sound and the KEXP blog.  He also has his own Criterion-based film site, Criterion Quest.   If you'd like to contact Noah in regards to his writings here at Side One: Track One then please do so here.


- Noah Sanders -




Unless otherwise expressly stated, all text in this blog and any related pages, including the blog's archives, is licensed by John Laird under a Creative Commons License.