You can’t say I’m not loyal to a theme since even this movie is based off a video game, and apparently only that game’s users had any interest in seeing it this weekend. Sure, it’s a dumb movie, but maybe not the worst way you could spend two hours and fifteen minutes in a theater this month.
What Works: Aaron Paul nearly single-handedly lifts the material as the only main cast member who could act his way out of a paper bag. His angst-ridden lead turn may feel like he’s borrowing from Jesse Pinkman a little too much but at least somebody’s taking this stuff seriously. Plus, it’s always fun to see Michael Keaton showing back up and stealing scenes.
And in my opinion, the car chases here are superior to the last couple Fast and Furious movies that have devolved into digitized parodies of themselves.
What Doesn’t: Dominic Cooper’s bad guy is a generic bore. He’s senselessly (and standardly) eeeeevil but you never even care enough to hate him. Imogen Poots (how’d you like to have that name growing up? not in an American school you wouldn’t) is just so-so as “the girl.” And Kid Cudi plays the type of role Tyrese usually does as “Uninteresting Black Sidekick Who Mostly Talks in Cliches.” In the role of secondary sidekick is Rami Malek who is either a terrible actor or I just can’t get past his super-creepy eyes that have distracted me in every role I’ve ever seen him in.
Oh, and the movie’s not very good…at all. It’s the kind of film where a character quits their job by stripping down to their underwear and then even takes off the underwear. Why? Who knows…maybe they think we’ll find it funny instead of too-long (the scene goes on for what feels like forever) and tedious.
What I Would Have Done Differently: Once again…not every property has to be made into a movie.