I went expecting a basic action film. I did not get it.

What we got was a man's movie - and in this reviewer's opinion one ofthe best in recent memory.

This it is not yet another film about revenge - it is a film aboutvengeance, and that's another animal entirely. If the true essence ofgreat story-telling and myth is that it takes us on a journey that ison the surface almost simplistic, but leaves the audience more by theend; then Faster succeeds and succeeds way beyond expectations.

In side-stepping the current vogue for mindless action it does harkback to the 70s - and the look and feel are very true to those roots.Finally, we might be leaving aside the lowbrow sarcastic sadism thathas ruled action films for a decade now and getting to action film thatengages rather than kills to entertain.

Director George Tillman keeps the speech sparse and the direction too.While the film overhypes the testosterone levels through the hardwareand the subplots there is an overall spareness to this that lifts thefilm. Finally, it doesn't establish that there may be a world beyondvengeance too soon. In the dialog between a truly excellent AdewaleAkinnuoye-Agbaje and Johnson the film goes from one level to anotherentirely. For this reviewer, the Gaytons have written in that exchangeone of the most iconic scenes on film in recent memory. And if thissounds like raving, then it is because it deserves it: brilliantwriting and stone-hard action combine to give the audience anexperience to remember.

This is a film that needed a star to really work, and in Dwayne Johnsonit has found one. He creates a character that is the closest I've seento the uncompromising spirit of Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven and DirtyHarry in quite a while. Here, there is genuine steel in the eye. Thisis tough without the token quips and ironic smiles. This is tough, meantough, gutsy, down to business, get the job done, film-making for men,tough.

Without a doubt a man's film - and one of the best in recent memory -and while Johnson's clowning may have been a strength in some previousfilms the uncompromising hardness he shows here has the potential tomake him a real A-lister.

Go be surprised as we were.

"Faster" (2010) Directed by George Tillman Jr. Starring Dwayne Johnson,Billy Bob Thorton Running Time 98 Minutes, Rated R. 3 Mitch's out of 5Mitch Hansch/ movieswithmitch.com

"Faster" almost ran out of gas even before its first lap. Therevenge-motivated flick joins the vintage-whatever- exploitation trendof late (Machete, Black Dynamite). After effective opening shots of theglistening super-jacked Dwayne Johnson character, known as The Driver,"Faster" red-lines us a full throttle false start following withatrocious over-stylized character development. This includes getting toknow the heroine addicted, days before retirement cop played by BillyBob Thorton accompanied by the song "Just Dropped In (To See WhatCondition My Condition Was In)" by Kenny Rogers and The First Editions.To me, it's a crime to use that song. "Just Dropped In" will always betied to "The Big Lebowski" and should be put on the "Do Not Use inMovies" song list. That's like using "I'm Alright" from Kenny Logginsin a film other than "Caddyshack" or "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" fromStarship in "Mannequin". Tsk, tsk. But somehow, despite the film's manyflaws, including an obvious ending and a weird assassin subplot,director George Tillman Jr., who takes a break from the lighter fare of"Soul Food" and "Barbershop", steers "Faster" back on course, due toBilly Bob's acting, Johnson's unstoppable masculine force, and pureholiday counter-programming of simple and intense violence that turnsout to be a lot more enjoyable than I thought it would be.

The film hits its groove when it lets The Driver, Dwayne Johnson, dohis thing. And that is without hesitation systematically crossing eachperson's life off who was responsible for putting him in jail and moreimportantly, accountable for his brother's death. The violence isbrutal as Johnson rides around in his muscle car with nothing fancierthan a Terminator determination approach to his revenge. This is theintensity I've been begging from Dwayne Johnson since he lost the"Rock" in his name. Action enthusiasts root for The Rock...er...I mean,Johnson, to be the next Schwarzenegger and knock that "Tooth Fairy" and"Race to Witch Mountain" crap off. Johnson is a very charming and funnyactor but we want to see him kick butt first and make kids go Disney adistant sixth. "Faster" is not the script or director he deserves butthis is a very thick muscled step in the right direction.

The Driver shares "Faster" with two other story lines that converge;the aforementioned Billy Bob as "The Cop" who gets on the case with afellow detective played by a well cast Carla Gugino, who together havegreat chemistry. The other story is at times fascinating but more oftensilly, with the The Killer played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen. The Killerspends his time conquering yoga, loving his lover (LOST's MaggieGrace), and taking hit jobs to fight the boredom that is life afterbeing a young software billionaire. The Killer, who was contracted byan anonymous caller to take out The Driver, struggles with thechallenge that is Johnson's hell-bent revenge machine. This characteris an applauded attempt at riskier story telling but failed in itsexecution with its overt awkwardness. Just because Gus Van Saunt took arisk of remaking "Pycho" shot for shot didn't make it pan out.

This is a blazingly fast film that slows when The Driver departs fromhis single mindedness. When conscience starts to eek its way into thebloodthirsty lead, a flash of his brother's death puts him right backon track. Although that doesn't mean a scene where when of one of theformer thugs responsible for his brothers death, now turned sincereEvangelist ("LOST's" Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) trying to getforgiveness through to The Drvier doesn't absolutely rock our socksoff. It is refreshing to view a man in the ministry on screen who isactually doing God's good work and not a child molester or thief orserial killer. "Faster's" action does justice to the genre and makesyou glad you're watching Johnson and not one who crossed him. Again,the ending didn't surprise me but the ride there sure was nice.

"This" sure was nice.

Matthew 5:38-42

I was surprised by this somewhat. I expected a brainless revengethriller. What I got was a nicely crafted caper, a throwback, a homage,to several genre films.

The storytelling was straight to the point, almost linear. A vengefuljuggernaut-The Rock-gets out of jail and seeks revenge for his murderedbrother. He's as focused as a laser missile. An eclectic cast ofcharacters are in his way. A strung-out cop out for redemption (BillyBob Thornton), a neurotic hit-man and various unsavory people.

I thought this was nice nod to 70s style vengeance driven movies andsomewhat reminiscent of Richard Stark/Donald Westlake's PARKERcharacter (seen, in its most recent incarnation in PAYBACK, starringMEL Gibson: one man seeking revenge against fellow criminals). A manfocused on his mission. The Rock is a cold-blood murder machine.Nothing heroic or even sympathetic about this guy, which makes himfascinating to watch as he runs down his list.

This movie doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it is a nice cure for thesugar coated holiday releases flooding our cinemas. A nice balance ofviolence, solid acting and some great music provided by THE HEAVY.

OK so when i saw the trailer to this film i was like " awesome! Dwaynehas finally gone back to what he's good at" mindless ass kickingaction! so it seemed!

The trailer makes the movie seem mindless but in fact the movie provesquite opposite indeed! I was for complete lack of a better word"surprised". The movie delivers on every aspect you'd expect to see offa biggish budget holiday action season movie, tonnes of complexity forthe main character Driver (Dwayne), good back story for the rest of thesupporting cast all except the girlfriend to the "i sooo wanna prove tothe world that I'm better than you cause i couldn't walk right when iwas a kid" assassin, didn't think she needed to be in the movie at all,the producers could have saved themselves a pay cheque there!

The movie does have a few twists in it that some will find amazing andother like myself will see them coming from the first 5 Min's of thefilm but even so this does not spoil the action one bit, at least itdidn't for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie from start to finish but was kindabummed out when you see him drive off into the sunset at the very end,why you ask, well if anyone was as familiar with the trailer as i wasyou would at this stage ask where the hell was the 70/71 hybridChevrolet Chevelle SS flying into the air after ramping off the hood ofthe Ferrari while doing twists in slow motion and then falling to theground as the Ferrari slams its rear quarter panel into the electricitypole???????? WTF why Mr Editor, Why??? I sat there while the creditswere going up convinced that this scene was going to come into play,the credits rolled and rolled and then the lights came on and I satthere feeling abandoned and somewhat let down and then even askedmyself had i fallen asleep or by chance managed to lose that scene tomy unconscious mind, but turns out I was right, the scene just wasn'tin the movie, and on further review there seems to be a huge number ofscenes that were cut out, going back to my previous statement about thegirlfriend not actually needed in the film at all, had the originalscenes been edited in to the film then her appearance would have mademore sense!

I am guessing that this cut was released in order to spark the interestin home blu ray and DVD sales and to do a directors cut if the movieprove to not make what they expected in the coming weeks. either wayafter such a great thrill ride of a film i came away very sad and feltnot only abandoned like i said before but also robbed! you advertised aproduct one way then delivered it and it was not the same movie, ibelieve that doing this with any other product is known as fraud, but icould be wrong.

all that aside i still give the film a solid 7 out of 10 and hopeDwayne keeps up the genre as i don't think i could survive anotherouting like the tooth fairy....Love peace and chicken grease, Damian