A lone man, recently released from prison, seeks out the people from his past who he believes betrayed him. While he forces each to atone for their sins, he must also face what meting out vengeance will do to his immortal soul. Meanwhile, he's not the only one looking to settle old scores. Hired by the man responsible for the events which lead him to prison, an eccentric contract killer follows his every move. Scenes of them crossing paths, sometimes violently, are interspersed with the assassin's self-realizations of how to deal with struggles within his own life. As if old enemies & hired guns aren't enough, a young female detective begrudgingly works alongside a veteran investigator looking to simply survive his last two weeks on the force before retirement, as they seek out the brazen ex-con who has been blazing a path of gasoline-powered destruction in his vintage Chevelle. An ex-con gets on a series of apparently unrelated killings. He gets tracked by a veteran cop with secrets of his own and an egocentric hit man. It's another story of revenge and retribution. The story doesn't offer anything else new. The few twists offered are also so rare to find and very predictable especially compared to their placement. But the action is quite nice. Beside all the shooting and car chases and action parts, the drama presented is quite nice and balanced. Dwayne Johnson puts on his usual face for this role. It's nothing new for him, and also it's nothing new for the audience. Having Billy Bob Thornton is the nice thing that gives this action movie the drama depth ingredient that makes it a better than nothing entertainment. Carla Gugino is also a nice choice for that heated argument dialog pieces. I like the Rock, and I believe that for all the substandard films he's been in, I still believe we're yet to see his best. If all the wrestling stars that turned to movies had his charisma we'd have a lot more good action movies out there. In pretty much everything I've seen him in he's been the best thing in it, he's likable, assured, and he's got the muscles that made Arnie such a hit in the 80's. Generally I'll watch anything he's in, so I rented faster, not really expecting much.<br/><br/>What I got was a lot more than I expected. Make no mistake, this is a balls out action movie, but it actually has a brain (and more than a little heart) to it, even though Dwayne is little more than mute for most of the movie. What it does is set up three separate characters, the Driver, the Cop and the Killer, and then (as well as kicking a great deal of ass) invests a great deal of time in their characters, fleshing them out much more than your usual action movie would. What's more, it's action sequences are brilliant, the whole thing looks fantastic, and there are brilliant performances and a few surprises throughout from the supporting cast.<br/><br/>It's not Shakespeare, but it is a great addition to the action genre and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes their action films to have a bit of a heartbeat as well. Well scripted, well acted, well shot, and a likable cast. What more do you want? Faster grafts that genre's style onto a deadbeat script and leaves it to Johnson - as deadly focused as a gunsight - to make it all believable.
Hedwanto replied
293 weeks ago