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Faster: In Theaters November 24, 2010

Josh Spiegel: Though I like The Rock (sorry, Dwayne, you're always going to be The Rock), Faster looks only slightly more engaging than the trailer for Drive Angry (which we'll get to in a moment). Because I'm shallow, all I was thinking about during this trailer was that Billy Bob Thornton should probably sue whoever did his hair for the film, and that in 2005, having Mr. Eko and Shannon from Lost in a movie would be awesome. Now, it just makes me sad to see them off the island. This one, maybe I'd rent or watch on TNT one Sunday afternoon. But that's about it.

Max Braden: It looks like Walking Tall meets A Man Apart, and is the type of non-James Bond action we get in November every now and then. The Chevelle is the biggest draw for me, and would almost get me into the theater. But I said the same thing to myself two years ago when Transporter 3 was coming up, and ultimately I was too busy with other November releases and waited to see it on DVD. I expect Faster will see the same fate and open in the mid teens.

Kim Hollis: I very much like The Rock, just like Josh, but I felt kind of the same about Faster. Billy Bob's hair is a huge distraction and the movie just looks sort of dark and muddy. I'm always up for that tune from The Heavy, though. That song is fantastic. I'll close out on a positive and say that I'm really glad to see Dwayne Johnson doing this kind of film. It's similar to Walking Tall and I think that movie is solid if not spectacular, and he's such a great tough guy that it's impossible not to root for him. He seems a little too somber here, which might be a detriment since I believe that so much of his charisma comes from his ability not to take himself completely seriously.

David Mumpower: Clearly, the shocking popularity of Taken has led to the greenlighting of several similar projects. I understand why there could be some disappointment that The Rock is doing a straight action piece rather than one that is imbued with his natural charisma, but I don't care. I think this looks white hot. Trailers are like movies in that they need to start strong and it's an imperative that they have an even better finish. Faster has this. When it starts with a sequence where The Rock enters a cube farm and he clearly has the intent to harm, I'm intrigued. It's the ending I find brilliant, though. The guy from Lost seems to be playing roughly the same character here, and he offers those words of wisdom gained through blood and suffering before begging for forgiveness. The way the clip ends seems to be the producers defining the type of movie this is, my type of movie. Taken has become one of those flicks that I watch every time it's on. Swapping in The Rock in a similar story fundamentally works for me.

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