Vehicle 19

I watched this last week on February 23rd at the theaters. I am not sure why this was released here in Japan well before the rest of the World because Japan tends to be last in getting movies released.

It was a good story overall and I must say excellent cinematography. The film takes places in Johannesburg, South Africa and the film does an excellent job showing the ins and outs of the city.

Paul Walker does a great job playing Michael Woods. His role reminds me of his role in Running Scared as he seems to have a short fuse and quite foul-mouthed. Don't let the trailers of this movie fool you however. You see Paul Walker and car chases and might expect a Fast and the Furious type of flick. However this movie is more of a car adventure/drama than action/car chase movie. I can say however that most of the movie takes place in a car.

I liked this movie overall but it is not the type of movie that you rush out to see in the theaters. There aren't enough action sequences to get the theater effect. Wait for DVD.

A plot nicely laid out in Johannesburg...

But the movie failed to have control and the director miserably failed to get a thrill out of it.

It can be considered a better City Tour of Johannesburg then a movie worth enjoying.

By the name and the cast the movie was to be a thriller...

But it was more of a waster.

I always consider a movie a HIT when it keeps coming to your mind even the next day and the next day.

Its the flavor...

But this one i wanted to sleep in the theater rather than waste my time watching it.

Plot was refreshing. Paul's acting specially toward the later half was good. The camera usage laced inside the car was very unique. Not seen many movies with this kind of attempt.

What screwed up the movie for me was the numerous logical errors right from start. Car company gives a rental without checking and cleaning out the vehicle? Why would a person in a new country rent a car...instead of using a taxi or Super Shuttle or whatever? In 2011 who does not have a smartphone which has GPS capability? Who does not come prepared to a new country without specific instructions to reach the US Embassy? Paul takes so much time to decide to spray his car. If you are a criminal on the run the first thing you would do is to ditch your vehicle and try using another. Or just hire a cab to get to US embassy.

A different Director would have made this a great movie. Sorry I cannot go beyond 5 in rating this movie

I am a fan of the Fast & Furious movies, some more than others, and my expectation was that this movie would offer a similar level of entertainment and action. Unfortunately it fell way short of that.

If it is meant to be a tense thriller then Paul Walker's terrible over-acting in scenes of anger or 'this can't be happening to me!' provided no credibility and thus failed to be in anyway gripping. And with no real back story or character build-up to balance this, you immediately get turned off the petulant man-child with anger management issues. For me this was from 5 minutes in.

I'm not sure if it was a bad story line or poor editing but the movie often jumps from scene to scene with little cohesion. One has to totally suspend disbelief during any chases given the car he is driving vs those who are chasing.

Finally, Paul Walker's script defies logic as he continuously fails to have a conversation with other characters about what has happened or is happening. If this was supposed to be 'angry alpha male type that doesn't communicate well'.....then it simply doesn't work.

3 out of 10 for a promising plot with a few tense moments.

A foreign traveler (Paul Walker) unknowingly picks up a rental car that will tie him to a web of corrupt local police. That's how it was listed, sounded like it would be a good thriller, so we decided to rent it. BIG Mistake! As soon as the movie starts, they start to play some kind of loud rap mess, Oh Ooooooo.....

Fifteen minutes into the movie, my wife whispers that our dog has more intelligence than the main character. That sums up the writing script. I won't go into the countless preposterous senseless things that happen because my review would be as long as the screen play itself. But, diehards that we are, we watched it to the end. All 85 minutes of it. You read correctly. The writer couldn't even think of another 5 minutes of junk to at least make it a respectable 90 minutes. Oops! Did I say: "Watched it to the end"? That would insinuate that there was actually an ending to the story. There Was an end to the movie but the end of the story must have been cut. I guess the writer figured that since most people would have walked out already, he could save a few minutes of his time and money by just not wasting time on an ending.

This movie was obviously written for a percentage of the younger crowd that support double digit I.Q.'s. Of course, if you are one of the above, just ignore my obviously ridiculous review, accept my apology, and rent this Exciting, Action, Thriller immediately.

If I sounded cynical or misanthropical, guilty as charged. I realize that movie makers lie, cheat, and do whatever they can think of to Sell A Movie so that they can milk the public for every penny that they can. But, to this day, I still feel defiled when I voluntarily give up my hard earned money for something that is advertised as good when it turns out to be just another ripoff. And, as usual in the case of bad cinema drivel, the trailer was once again better than the entire movie. Heck, just watch the trailer 40 times. That's free, you'll get your 85 minutes worth of entertainment, and you'll enjoy it more than the actual movie.