. However, unlike his predecessors, Johnson made the inevitable move towards family friendly fare way too early before his cred had been firmly established. He's floundered ever since in insulting junk like Race to Witch Mountain 
and The Tooth Fairy
, in which we see far more of Johnson than I ever really hoped to. Faster could best be described as a vengeance thriller on steroids, and hopefully just the first step in Johnson's return to action greatness.The best revenge flicks are the most simple. Driver(Johnson) is a hurricane force of nature from the moment we lay eyes on him, all seething rage and built up anger. He's just being released from a ten year bid for a crime we know nothing about, and he could give a crap less about rehabiliation on the outside. He's got a mission. A violent mission. All he needs are his tools. Driver makes his way to the lot where he stashed his ride, a badass ride befitting a badass warrior. Everything he needs is right where he left it: his keys, a gun, and a list. Let the killing begin.
The only question is "why"? Before we ever have a chance to ponder it, Driver has already found his first target. The execution is swift and public. It's as much a shock to us as the victim. The rest of the film is just as aggressive. You know somebody's got to try and take him down. Killer(Oliver Jackson-Cohen) is on the trail. Killer is the best at everything. Supermodel good looks, an entrepeneur who has made millions in the software biz, and a survivor of a childhood debilitating disease. He is perfection, but as such he's also gotten bored. He's hired by an unknown client to put Driver in the grave, seeing him as the first real challenge he's had in years.
Killer's not alone. Such a public execution draws the attention of the police, one Cop(Billy Bob Thornton) in particular. In some ways he's a lot like Nicolas Cage's character in Bad Lieutenant. He's a drugged out, shady character with secrets nobody on the force wants to discover. But Cop's not all bad. He has a son that he cares for in his own way, and an ex-wife(Moon Bloodgood) that he's trying to patch things up with.
In case you haven't noticed, none of the characters have any names. They're all bold archetypes, befitting the straight forward, single-minded tone. This isn't about deep, defining characters. It's about pure emotion. About one man making a point. Johnson hasn't been this good in a very long time, which is funny because I don't think he says more than two dozen words the entire movie. He's all energy, with occasional bits of black humor thrown in. This is what I want to see him doing from now on. Billy Bob Thornton makes the most of the occasional weighty scenes he's given, but for the most part this is straight up scene chewing stuff.
George Tillman Jr. isn't known for his action flicks. In fact this is the first one I think he's done, and at times it's obvious that he's more comfortable with less intense sequences. In particular the fight scene between Driver and a hulking opponent(remember Terry Tate: Office Linebacker?) in a bathroom is poorly shot, making it hard to tell what's going on except for the sound effects. Tillman is good at drawing out comedy from tension, in particular in a darkly comic standoff between Driver and a reformed pastor with a criminal past.
It's easy to take movies like this for granted. They're so easy to screw up, and yet so hard to get just right. Faster isn't perfect, but it's a compact, muscular thrill ride that will keep you on your toes. It's good enough that you might even forget this is the same guy you saw in a tutu just last year.
