Courtesy photograph
Revenge-themed ‘Faster’ is more than an accelerated thrill ride
Dwayne Johnson starts in the revenge-themed action thriller “Faster.”
Jason Wallis
- “Faster”
-
★★★ (out of four)
2010, George Tillman Jr., U.S., R
- New Films
-
“The Tourist”
Director: Florian Hencke von Donnersmarck.
Stars: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis.
The plot: Revolves around Frank, an American tourist visiting
Italy to mend a broken heart. Elise is an extraordinary woman who
deliberately crosses his path.
Genre: Drama, thriller.
Rating: PG-13.
“Voyage of the Dawn Treader”
Director: Michael Apted.
Stars: Ben Barnes, Skandar Keynes.
The plot: Lucy and Edmund Pevensie return to Narnia with their
cousin Eustace, where they meet up with Prince Caspian for a trip
across the sea aboard the royal ship The Dawn Treader. Along the
way they encounter dragons, dwarves, merfolk, and a band of lost
warriors before reaching the edge of the world.
Genre: Adventure, family.
Rating: PG.
- Film Roundup
-
“HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART
1”
★★★ 1⁄2 (out of four)
Warner Bros. has been taking some flack these past few years as
their Harry Potter film series took a nose-dive in terms of
creativity and overall effectiveness, and the harsh criticisms are
not without cause. After Alfonso Cuaron and Mike Newell each left
the series after just one (successful) installment, the studio
turned to the well-respected British filmmaker to close out the
final three chapters, and the results have been uneven.
Sure, the movies still rake in obscene amounts of cash all over
the globe, but from an artistic standpoint, the consensus seems to
be that Yates took a once-vibrant series and ran it into the ground
— perhaps as a result of his own willingness to let the studio
heads call all the shots. Though marginally entertaining, “Order of
the Phoenix” and “The Half-Blood Prince” both suffered enormously
from flat, truncated screenplays that never allowed any breathing
room for these characters or their story.
“UNSTOPPABLE”
★★★ (out of four)
From “The A-Team” to “Salt,” the season’s films have highlighted
the inability of most directors to creatively and effectively
document movement on screen. The nuances of kinetics appear to be
completely lost on these people, to the extent that their action
sequences are not only unimpressive — they’re genuinely
confounding, largely due to hyper-stylized editing and overly busy
camera work.
Posted: Friday, December 3, 2010 8:46 am
|
Updated: 10:39 am, Fri Dec 3, 2010.
Revenge-themed ‘Faster’ is more than an accelerated thrill ride
Been doing a lot of catching up these past few weeks, watching a
bunch of recent DVD releases and bracing myself for the avalanche
of new films that the studios have been holding for the
prestige-heavy final weeks of the year. I like to focus a bit on
limited releases this time of year, so like I said last week, the
reviewing schedule is kind of up in the air for the remainder of
2010. Blame the unpredictable art-houses, man — I just work
here.
This week, we’ve got a look at the provocative revenge thriller
“Faster,” accompanied by a brief recommendation for “Winter’s
Bone,” one of the more notable early-2010 releases I’ve seen
recently. It’s out on DVD/Blu-ray and just swept the Independent
Spirit Award nominations, so honestly, I don’t know what you’re
waiting for.
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Posted in
Jason wallis
on
Friday, December 3, 2010 8:46 am.
Updated: 10:39 am.
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