41/50: Faster

When I first saw the trailer for this film I though, "Finally".

I have been screaming at The Rock for years to stop making the kid-centric films and get back to what you should be doing - making action films.

Since the upper-tier of action stars are getting way up in years (I am looking at Stallone) or having housekeeper babies (insert Schwarzenegger), we need a new breed of action star. Sure, Vin Diesel can do a decent enough job, and Jason Statham can be pretty bad ass - but The Rock has the charisma and the ability to be the next big thing.

Anyway, I finally got around to watching Faster and it really lived up to what I thought it was going to be. Nothing but pure action, shoot 'em up type fun - and a pretty decent twist ending, that I should have figured out, but didn't.

So, Driver (Dwayne Johnson) is in prison for a bank crime he committed with his brother and a bunch of his brother's friends. We find out that he is lucky to be alive after he was shot in the end by a rival crew that stole the money they originally stole - and killed his entire crew, including his brother, in front of him.

While inside, Driver gets pumped and revenge is on his mind. He tracks down a list of all members of the crew and their informants, and plans to hunt them down and kill them for the death of his brother.

The film also stars Billy Bob Thornton as Cop (I know the names in the movie are so generic), one of the people in charge of finding and stopping Driver's killing rampage. Cop is only a few weeks away from retirement - but this case becomes pretty important to him, and will most likely be his last.

As Driver continues to roll through his hit list, he meets up with an unexpected foe - Killer (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), a hitman hired by one of the people on his list to kill Driver.

What I really enjoyed about this film was The Rock's performance with so few lines. He was pissed and we knew it - everything we needed to know came in flashback scenes and his actions. Just a total bad ass role for him - and it was very welcomed.

Of course, Thornton had the role with most of the talking - and he plays the deadbeat cop so well.

So, yes I enjoyed the film. It was everything I was expecting. An action film with car chases, guns blazing and tons of fighting. It's nice to have this type of film in your rotation every so often.

Grade:

Eagle Eye

Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) has just lost his twin brother, Ethan, in Eagle Eye. Jerry is the black sheep of the family - Ethan has always been the go-getter, including being part of the military.

As Jerry tries to return to his normal life of evading his landlord and the Copy Cabana, he enters his apartment to find a ton of military weaponry and secrets.

Jerry's phone rings and a voice on the other end tries to get him out of the situation before the FBI arrives to arrest him. Jerry refuses and is taken into custody and questioned by Agent Thomas Morgan (Billy Bob Thornton).

Allowed one phone call, Jerry tries to call his parents when the same voice as before tells him to duck as a crane smacks open the windows of the room he is in and he is told to jump out of the building.

In another part of town, Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan) has just dropped her son off at the train station for a trip to D.C. to play a concert. Rachel also receives a call from the same voice, and is told to wait in a car or her son's train will derail.

This is where both Jerry and Rachel meet up and a wild chase ensues for the rest of the film, until its climax.

The movie is action packed and very well done. Rosario Dawson, Michael Chiklis, Anthony Mackie and Ethan Embry also star in the film.

There was one thing that bothered me throughout the film, however, and that was the inclusion of Rachel. It was very obvious the reasoning behind Jerry's involvement - he looked and sounded exactly like his twin brother. But Rachel only seemed to picked at random - because her son was going to be on that train.

But, that was basically it. I know a lot of things went on in the film that seem a little crazy, but those things don't bother me that much - I know it's a film.

I, again, continue to be very impressed with LaBeouf. He has certainly come a long way and continues to climb up the A-list charts. I had only seen Monaghan a few times before this - but she also stood out in the film as the conflicted mother.

I have never been a Dawson fan, but I was not annoyed with her performance in this film. Thornton was very entertaining in his role as well.

If you are looking for pretty much non-stop action sequences then this is your film - and the ending was pretty well done, annd actually rather touching as you get to know the characters.

Grade:

25 Days: Bad Santa

Talk about a complete opposite of the family Christmas movie.

Bad Santa stars Billy Bob Thornton as Willie, a drunk mall Santa who, along with his helpful elf Marcus (Tony Cox), have devised a plan to rob shopping malls on Christmas Eve.

We start off by seeing Willie and Marcus rob what is apparently their sixth shopping mall in six years. After the heist, Willie apparently wants out to live in Florida, stop drinking and open a bar.

Fast-forward nearly a year, and Marcus is calling Willie again to meet in Arizona for mall number seven. Of course, Willie has not stopped drinking - in fact he may be worse - and has already pissed away all the money from last year's job.

So, Willie heads out to Arizona.

Billy Bob's Santa is disgusting, and really has me thinking about ever letting my children near a shopping mall Santa. He is pretty much drunk the entire time, has a foul mouth, has to smell and even pissed himself while on Santa's chair.

Things sort of go a little haywire as the mall's head of security Gin (Bernie Mac) gets wise to Willie and Marcus' plans and wants in - at a 50% cut.

Also, Willie has sort of taking a small liking to The Kid (Brett Kelly) and a bartender named Sue (Lauren Graham). He has sort of found what has been missing his entire life - a family.

The ending has a lot of twists and turns that I won't ruin for those who haven't seen it. But, it is pretty nice to see how far some of the characters have come by the end of the film.

This was also John Ritter's final film as an actor - he did have a few voice acting jobs after this one though. He played Bob Chipeska one of the heads of the mall, who hires Willie and Marcus

This is definitely not a kids movie, there is sex, drinking, foul language and some disgusting humor. However, for the adults, I found it pretty darn laugh out loud funny at times. Although my wife was not as impressed.

Grade: