Trailer Review: FASTER

"He's Faster!"

REALLY!!! REALY!!!????

So Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) has been on a bit of a down slope as of late. A small role in this past summers The Other Guys brought us closer to the man we all know and love; you know the one from DOOM! His most recent movies were all Disney flicks the last one being about a hockey player who is known as the "tooth fairy" because he...oh well you get it. Long story short he becomes a tooth fairy. In tights. With Wings. (sighs)

But it looks as though Dwanye Johnson is starting an uphill battle to get back to the top of being an action star. Faster looks like the first stepping stone. I'm very torn right now about how I should feel about this movie. The story is a very familiar one and yet its being treated like a Michael Bay flick. I don't get a sense of urgency cause everything about this is just very formula, so it runs the risk of being boring. I mean we've all seen revenge flicks; a good one being Kill BIll, some formula yes, but even that had its little surprises here and there. Now, there is another movie coming out called Drive Angry with Nicholas Cage that looks like the exact same movie, with some supernatural elements loped in, but everyone in the movie seems to know the kind of movie they are making and they are just chewing up the material. (More on that movie in a future post).

Between the two I choose Drive Angry. However I not afraid to admit that I have been wrong. I once wrote about the A-Team and The Losers. I cited that The Losers looked like a far better movie in terms of action and just over all camaraderie, but in the end, when those house lights went up; The A-Team was the better flick. I'm hoping lighting doesn't strike twice here and my predictions are sound.

This movie is directed by George Tillman Jr. The man behind such movies as Men of Honor, Soul Food, and Notorious. He's also produced Roll Bounce, Barbershop 1 & 2, and Nothing like the Holidays for his production company State Street Pictures. As a director I really admire Tillman's work, for one he makes movies that are revolved around African Americans. Now its not all of his movies, but I point this out because as a Latino myself, I want to make movies that have minorities in the lead roles, mostly Latino. It also seems that everything he does is always something different, so he's versatile and always allowing himself to grow as an artist. As with Faster its a step into action movies. He's got a great eye for talent, comedy and drama. Its just kind of a shame that it doesn't quite mesh all together from the trailer.

The other surprising thing about this movie is that it is rated R. I'd imagine that just by the uneven feel of this movie it would be a PG-13 but I'd guess that it was Tillman Jr. who was all for sticking to a story that was true to its violent roots. Gotta give him props on that one. The R rating is one of the small highlights for me, for this movie.

Overall as an actor I like watching Dwanye Johnson, in a way he's like, but not up there with, Bruce Willis as being this very likeable, everyday man who is put into extraordinary situations. We like to watch him and see how he would handle a situation cause in a sense we'd do maybe the same thing? Aside from the uneven-ness, this movie definitely looks like it will deliver some pretty good action. I mean we've all seen revenge flicks and so seeing THE ROCK! walk into an office and just blow a guys head off is very promising. By this I mean that, we hopefully won't be treated to "please don't" speeches like the one that pastor gives towards the end of the trailer. Johnson is on a mission to kill 'em all and I'm glad at least that we are getting just that.

Also this is also means good things for its running time. I'm hoping for a short hour and half flick, which means that this movie will not overstay its welcome. My final review is always when the credits roll and the house lights go up.


FASTER walks into the theaters and attempts to blow your head off on November 24, 2010

Dueces!
StuntmanBob

The Ol' Switch 'o rue!

" The Losers looks like a better version of the The A-Team" , those were the words that I said to Dorian, my partner in movie crime, when both the trailers to those movies came out. Today is the day that I've seen the A-Team for the second time! And I must say that The A-Team whipped The Losers' ass!

Now for a quick message about The A-Team. Having only seen a few episodes of the original series, I can truly say that director Joe Carnahan has crafted a film worthy of the word, ACTION! The movie opens perfectly as a mini origin story of how the team got together. Thank you Joe, cast, crew, crafty, and PA's for not making us sit through a 2 hour origin story and then at the end showing us how B.A. "gets the Mohawk". There are some movies that work as full on origin stories, a la Batman Begins, but I don't need another Ang Lee HULK*. You feel me? The movie wastes no time, as my my lady friend ;), who I saw the movie with, said, "this is why you go to the movies". You immediately get lost in all the crazy antics and camaraderie that Hannibal, B.A., Murdock, and Face have between them. The action, though ridiculous, is so fun and works for the simplicity of the story that you don't even notice the sometimes, ok, CGI.

So anyways, go see it, duh!.

So back to the show; When The Losers came out to theaters I was there opening weekend and the movie sadly was very unfulfilling, it had its moments and the only thing working for it was the believability in its characters, much like The A-Team. It felt like they had known each other for as long as Rusty and Danny Ocean had, from the Ocean's 11 series. The villain in The Losers was trying to hard and the main story line just didn't have enough believability to it. Yes, even for a comic book movie. Now as you all know I was very excited for this movie and gave a very positive review on its trailer but sad to say the outcome was less than thrilling. The A-Team was what I wanted and hoped The Losers would be.

This brings me to my point. Trailers, although entertaining, can be so deceptive, and even one such as I, can be deceived. I know right? Calm down no one is perfect. But in any case this is one of the reasons why Dorian and myself critique the trailers because so much can come from them! And you should too! Just because the trailer looks good doesn't me the movie will be phenomenal. I take this experience as a lesson learned. I love discovering things like this, when I think something is gonna be this and it turns out to be that. For me as a filmmaker, film lover and filmgoer it makes it all worth it.

If anybody has thoughts on the A-Team or The Losers hit us up at guysonthecouch@gmail.com



*I did enjoy Ang Lee's HULK on a completely artistic level. Don't Hate, but if you must, I understand.

Dueces!
Bobby