On the surface,Fastercomes across as an average, rage-fueled revenge flick complete with guns, grimaces, and a trail of dead people. However, it’s way weirder and much more earnest than expected. Rather than trying to be slick,this movie goes full-on biblical. The result is an oddly heartfelt, slightly confused, and sweaty thriller that explores the themes of grief, forgiveness, and the act of shooting people in the face while barely saying a word. At the center of it all isDwayne Johnson,starring as Driver, a recently released ex-conwho’s on a very specific mission: to hunt down every person responsible for the death of his brother after a bank heist goes sideways.
This was the movie that had Johnson finally back to doing what he does best—being physically unstoppable and emotionally wounded. Altogether,it helped him reclaim hisaction moviethrone after years of babysitting and playing nice for Disney. AddBilly Bob Thorntonas a strung-out, near-retirement cop with a complicated past, andFastertakes an unexpected detour into something more layered and strange. Clearly, it could’ve been a more straightforward shoot-’em-up type, but it combines action and redemption drama to transform the entire narrative.
Dwayne Johnson’s Character in ‘Faster’ Is More Than Just an Action Machine
At first glance,Fasteris your typicalDwayne Johnson shoot-’em-up. It’s got him in some larger-than-life role but still taps into the more human aspects behind his motivation. The film itself wasted no time setting the tone with Johnson shooting a guy in the head, practically a few seconds after walking out of prison. There are no words, no warnings, just a bullet and the start of what looks like your standard rampage. But this is exactly where the movie pulls the wool over viewers’ eyes. Underneath the pile of bodies and car screeches,Fasteris more about how far peoplecarry their traumabefore it wrecks them.
It’s true that Driver is checking names off a kill list, but in the process,he’s exploring his own grief, betrayal, and what redemption means in his book.The thing is, revenge only takes him so far, and what’s left after that is harder. It raises pertinent questions like, why does he hesitate when he finds out one of his targets has started a family? Why does he visit a dying friend in a hospital only to say he’s sorry? As the movie progresses, Driver’s fiery warpath smolders.The movie initially tricks viewers with its violent energy, but soon enough, it’s clear that its soul is somewhere else entirely. All in all, this isn’t yourtypical revenge thriller; it’s the story of a man who has to crawl out of the trenches to forgive the world—and himself—even when it doesn’t deserve it.
‘Faster’ Turned Dwayne Johnson Into a Mythic Antihero and Made It Believable
No one expects a ton of subtlety from a guy nicknamed The Rock, but inFaster,Johnson delivers a level of restraint that’s kind of brilliant. His interpretation of “Driver” barely speaks or smiles, yet he still comes across as larger than life. Here,he doesn’t quite lean into the regularaction guy schtick; he transcends it,moving like he’s on some supreme deity-ordained mission. The second he storms out of prison—in slow motion, of course—the movie frames him like a man with nothing left to lose and nothing else to be. InFaster, he doesn’t deliver any jokes orwitty one-liners; he simply drives, guns people down, and keeps moving. Beyond being a guy with a grudge,Fasterportrays Driver as a symbol.He’s someone who’s been through so much pain that it transformed him into this cold, simple, and unstoppable force to suit a narrative that’s been stripped down to essentials.
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Here, Driver is carrying out some cosmic-level score-settling, and when he does stop, like when he visits his dying brother’s friend at the hospital to apologize, it doesn’t dampen his fury; it just gives him more depth. While it may seem that way, he’s not some unfeeling vengeance machine; he’s simply trying to finish what he started at the cost of, well, everything. WithBilly Bob Thornton as the tired, messy cop named—spoiler alert—Cop, Johnson’s tunnel vision hits harder. Unlike Driver, Cop talks, schemes, and spirals a whole lot, and perhaps it’s that contrast that keeps things interesting in the most effective way possible. At the end of it all,Fasterdoesn’t work because it’s loud; it’s a quiet movie that knows exactly when to hit hard… and of course, when to throw a littlechaos into the mix.
