While the first Fast and Furious movie has aged well due to its grounded approach to action and storytelling, as well as its focus on car racing as the primary form of action, the franchise has moved far away from its roots in more recent years. It has evolved into a mega-action blockbuster franchise with an ever-growing ensemble of stars.
Even though movies like F9 went too far, the franchise still performs well at the box office due to its large-scale, outlandish sequences and its stacked roster of the biggest names in the action genre. The modern Fast and Furious movie is a who’s who of Hollywood, with cameos by celebrities from all fields, including Ronda Rousey and Cardi B.
The growing list of Fast and Furious movie plot holes is frustrating, but we’re all eagerly awaiting the final entry in the franchise, Fast X: Part II. Among other factors, there’s major excitement about Dwayne Johnson’s return to the franchise. While he has the perfect introduction in the franchise, an earlier role of his proved he was the perfect fit.
Faster Is A Dwayne Johnson Hidden Gem
It Is Tonally Different To Most Of His Films
A year before Fast Five, which saved the franchise by changing it forever, George Tillman Jr. directed Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in a movie that could’ve been a Fast & Furious prequel if not for plot details. 2010’s Faster follows The Rock as a criminal released from prison after a decade inside, hell-bent on killing those who put him there.
Faster has failed to impress critics, who gave it a meager 41% on Rotten Tomatoes, even though audiences gave it a 52%.
While he frequently portrays the same over-the-top, corny, and borderline funny hero who performs unbelievable stunts and fight maneuvers to save the day, Faster sees Johnson deliver a more nuanced performance. As a brooding thriller with a heavy side of gore, it lets The Rock shine in one of his few serious roles ever.
The lack of typical tongue-in-cheek humor and snappy one-liners may surprise viewers acquainted with the actor’s current style, but it proves that Johnson has more range than his most popular movies suggest. With little dialogue, he plays the character with a clinical precision suitable for his approach to his revenge plan. Johnson shines as the stoic killer with a cause.
The Action In Faster Showed Johnson Was Perfect For Fast & Furious
The Rock Showcased How He’s Suitable For That Kind Of Action
While Dwayne Johnson’s character Luke Hobbs is a law enforcement official in the Fast and Furious movies, Faster‘s tonal and narrative similarities cue up the actor’s filmography perfectly for his entry in the franchise. Johnson’s Jimmy Cullen even drives a classic General Motors car, the 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle. The chase scene is right out of a Fast and Furious movie.
Cullen is a gun-toting, car-racing, cold-blooded killer whose single-minded focus is on his revenge. He may remind viewers of Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw from Furious 7, who The Rock would later join for their spinoff movie, Hobbs & Shaw. The scenes of confrontation in Faster proved that Johnson was perfect as the major antagonist opposite Vin Diesel.
The car action, the moments of revenge, and the intense fight scenes showed that Dwayne Johnson had what the franchise needed in its new cast addition.
The most notable characteristic of Cullen, which one can see glimpses of in Fast & Furious‘ Hobbs, is his seriousness. He doesn’t talk often, has almost no sense of humor, and is nearly impossible to beat in combat. The car action, the moments of revenge, and the intense fight scenes in Faster showed that Dwayne Johnson had what the franchise needed in its new cast addition.
