Throughout his career as a movie star, Dwayne Johnson has made several movies that are likely to live on his personal Mount Rushmore. While Moana 2 is a big hit, that’s more due to the Disney animation than the presence of the one-time wrestler. Early in his movie star days, though, he made a little-seen thriller called Faster that’s more worthy of your attention than you might expect.
The movie tells the story of a man who gets out of jail after 10 years and decides to take vengeance on all the people he holds responsible for his brother’s death. As he moves through his victims, he’s tailed by a hit man and a veteran cop, both of whom have motivations of their own. Here are three reasons you should check the movie out.
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It’s a reminder of why Dwayne Johnson is a movie star
Dwayne Johnson has become harder to love in more recent years. The charisma of his career as a wrestler translates effortlessly into movie stardom, but reports suggest that he’s become a little too protective of his movie star image, and the result is that his movies feel increasingly safe and uninteresting (RedOne, anyone?).
Faster is great in part because it gives us a Johnson character with more of an edge. Modern Johnson has become quippy, and while he can pull off that kind of comedy, Faster reminds us that just watching Johnson work can be compelling in its own right.
The supporting cast is filled with stars
In addition to Johnson’s charisma, Faster is filled with other actors who may be slightly overqualified for the roles they have. Billy Bob Thornton plays the veteran cop that’s hot on Johnson’s tail, and Carla Gugino, Tom Berenger, and the rest of the cast are all great in their smaller roles.
Faster is an action movie, and it doesn’t demand deep pathos or emotion from most of its actors. What it does demand, though, is the kind of presence that keeps you watching, and this cast has that in spades.
It has a relentless pace
A movie called Faster probably should feel pretty propulsive, and thankfully, this movie lives up to its name. As Johnson’s Driver moves from kill to kill, we learn more about how much he actually knows about the crime he’s avenging, and what information has been withheld both from him and from the audience.
The propulsive nature of Faster also helps to cover up for any of the movie’s plotting flaws. By the time you’re questioning the circumstances of the story, the movie has already moved on to something else.
It’s just surprising enough
It would be easy for a movie like Faster to basically give you exactly what you might expect from it and nothing more. After all, there have been movies about lone avengers for as long there have been movies, period. Even so, Faster has a few twists and turns that make it feel like more than just a standard revenge-driven action movie.
The exact nature of those twists and turns, and the information that is being withheld from both characters and the audience, is best left unspoiled. Suffice it to say, though, that Faster isn’t exactly the movie you might expect it to be when you first sit down to watch it.
Faster is streaming on Netflix right now.