Writer: Anne Jamaludin

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Watch this if you liked: “Walking Tall”, “Four Brothers”

Dwayne Johnson has finally come back down to business after being featured in less than himself characters such as in previous Disney ventures, "Tooth Fairy" and "Race To Witch Mountain". Formerly know as 'The Rock', Dwayne who dropped his WWE nick name last year, brings a more serious side in this latest instalment, "Faster". But is "Faster" strong enough to bring Dwayne back among the ranks of silver screen's elites?

"Faster" is one of the most anticipated movies for Dwayne's fans as it features 'The Great One' in a thriller that does not degrade his charisma yet at the same time, brings back the tough guy image that suites him very well. The story is about the vengeance of a man that will not let anything gets in his way of exacting his revenge for his fallen brother.

"Faster " opens to the main character only known as 'Driver' (Dwayne Johnson) throughout the whole movie , walking out as a free man after serving a 10-year sentence in federal prison. Instead of starting a new and clean life, Driver only has one motivation: to avenge the brutal murder of his brother Gary, done by group of criminals from different backgrounds. As he hunts for them one by one, he will start to notice that some things could change and that it contradicts between his thirst for vengeance and his calling for forgiveness. Though his plans do not exactly go the way he wanted, even more so with unexpected characters like 'Killer' (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) and 'Cop' (Billy Bob Thornton) thrown in the plot to add more spice to the storyline.

Dwayne's character builds up quite well as the story progresses. Driver gives the audience the image of a 6'5'' tough guy that knows what he is doing and anybody who is a somebody, would know that this guy is not someone to be messed with. Dwayne might have lesser lines than what he was used to in his previous movies, but that only serves as a pinnacle for Driver's character development. This gives audience the prospect of how the man does not have much care for the world when it comes to anything else except himself and his mission. Dwayne exuded more emotions with his portrayal as Driver. When some of his past is revisited in the movie, audience will see how the cold, steel hard exterior of the ex-convict slowly peels off to reveal a man with a tormented past.

The character 'Killer' has quite an interesting personality as well, as he is as described in the movie, a person that has great willpower by the way his appearance and personality changed throughout his life; shown by all the pictures he hanged on his walls. However, such an interesting character like Killer did not have enough screen time to for his personality to bloom, which will make some of the audience wonder if there would be a possible spin-off based on this character.

One of the noteworthy elements in the movie would be how the situation is seen from a different point of view; the ones of a law enforcer known as 'Cop'. He somewhat bears a significance as he possessed something more than what meets the eye in "Faster". Besides that, this movie is not without its very own unique twist, which the audience will have to find out on their own.

Overall, "Faster" is a smarter, deeper and all around better movie than the other milder ones that had usually been Dwayne Johnson's bread and butter. If moviegoers are not a fan of Dwayne Johnson or his WWE persona - 'The Rock', viewers can still enjoy the movie as it is because this action flick definitely brings a fresh new plot that is anything but predictable to the silver screen. The storyline itself runs purely on the themes of forgiveness and redemption; which are the things that some of the audience may seek, while some may receive in this genre.

Cinema Online, 07 January 2011