Vehicle 19 (2013) User Reviews

[caseymoviemania · 5/10 · 7 May 2013]

A low budget indie thriller with an interesting concept, but VEHICLE 19 suffers from sluggish pace and short of adrenaline rush. The first thing that attracted me to watch this low-budget indie thriller called VEHICLE 19 is its irresistible concept -- the movie is shot entirely from inside the car. Now that's what I called a great novelty. However, South African director Mukunda Michael Dewil fails to capitalize his own concept. Instead of a fast-paced thriller normally expected from this kind of movie, VEHICLE 19 sputters as it moves along. Somewhere in between, director Mukunda Michael Dewil manages to stage some claustrophobic moments and worthy action scenes within the confined space of a car (and limited budget). Paul Walker is fairly adequate to put on a (mostly) one-man show as a brooding and manic anti-hero. It's a shame that Mukunda Michael Dewil's script is lackluster. More than often, the movie loses its momentum whenever it tries to elaborate the storyline. The pace is patchy, while the movie's overly-stylized look is too distracting for its own good. Overall, VEHICLE 19 only works in certain angles. The rest of them are as rusty as a beat-up engine.

[JapanGaijin · 7/10 · 28 February 2013]

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.

[sendmailtojk · 5/10 · 1 September 2014]

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

[emjaypeps · 3/10 · 11 May 2014]

One reviewer says this film has a "nice plot", but the plot of Vehicle 19 is actually its greatest downfall, and, as movies generally succeed or fail or their plots, this movie is a bit of a bummer.

What I am about to say might, for some films, be a plot spoiler, but as I've established the plot is poop, I don't think I need to worry.

So, Paul Walker arrives at Jo'burg airport, picks up the wrong rental car and subsequently discovers a silenced gun has been left for the rightful renter for the purpose of killing the female lawyer currently tied up and gagged in the trunk. Hmm. Someone has gone to the trouble of kidnapping this woman, sourcing a silenced weapon, bundling her into a rental car, but doesn't bother with that extra step of killing her. (This is a little like that old James Bond moment when the baddies always but always fail to actually kill him when they have the chance.) Instead, they have hired someone from abroad to fly in, pick up the car, take it somewhere remote and kill the woman. Come on, people, this is one of the most violent countries on earth; you couldn't find someone local to do the job?

This is, therefore, one of the most contrived plot openings ever, and its discordant noise reverberates throughout the entire film. Paul Walker's character makes some equally idiotic moves with the sole purpose of progressing what remains of the plot, ignoring common sense at every turn in a sterling effort to place himself in as much danger as possible.

You get the gist.

The final scene is a direct rip-off of Clint Eastwood's The Gauntlet, which is a far better get-this-lady-to-safety film than Vehicle 19 could ever hope to be.

It's rather sad. As much as I really like Paul Walker as an action hero, and mourn his untimely passing, this is a pitiful epitaph for the man.

[kevinmount · 1/10 · 19 May 2013]

I wasn't expecting much of this film given the largely unknown cast, but it failed to meet my rock bottom expectations.

The main protagonist stumbles his way through what should be a routine trip from the airport to his girlfriend's house. Firstly, he's in a strange country but has no Sat-Nav.

Instead of concentrating on the road, he's eating, drinking, doing everything distracting that he can to ensure that he nearly knocks down every pedestrian in sight.

Then he finds a gun in his car. What does he do? Throw it away? No, he decides because the car has a gun in it, he doesn't like it any more, and he abandons it in the middle of a dangerous South African township and starts walking!

Another ten minutes, and another half dozen ridiculously ill-thought out events and we couldn't watch it any longer. Avoid.

[villeh-1 · 7/10 · 2 June 2013]

As some reviewers already pointed out, this movie is closest to Phone Booth in style and theme. In contrast to it, Vehicle 19 fails to keep up the constant level of intensity and escalation. However, it surely was an entertaining flick.

All the negatives of pacing problems aside, reason for 7 stars are twofold: 1) Paul Walker's excellent performance and 2) just driving around in JoBurg was interesting in itself. JoBurg is not the most typical setting for a thriller. Previously, I had written Paul Walker of as a pretty-boy surfer-dude who likes to drive fast cars. But in this one he showed that he is a quality actor who can deliver subtle and intense performances.

[countryshack · 3/10 · 31 August 2013]

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.

[OJT · 7/10 · 5 October 2013]

Being very different from the trailer, I still found myself enjoying this thriller very much. It's very unconventional, something I really enjoy. After watching a ton of movies over the years, I love to watch something new. This is!

We meet a guy out on parole after killing someone in an accident, going to Jo'Burg, South Africa, and going to be there on a scheduled time, meeting his wife at the American embassy. But things go wrong off right after landing on a delayed plane. He gets the wrong car by Hertz, where there are two car rented by the police. He finds himself in an awful predicament, and is soon hunted by corrupt police. But being the son of a sadist, the corrupt police has "picked" the wrong guy to frame for a crime. Paul Walker is great, acting very solid.

I like the South African touch here. An American coming to a very different and exotic country, where he immediately finds himself not knowing anything. This is fresh film making, and far from your average stupid Hollywood flick.

Don't listen to the haters here. They were probably expecting a Fast & Furious rip off or lookalike movie here. This is nothing such. It's a rather exceptionally different thriller. Not everything is 100 percent believable, but still it's way better than a lot of others.

[AudioFileZ · 4/10 · 6 May 2013]

Vehicle 19 starts off with an American being chased by the Police, cars and a helicopter, through a gritty large urban city, in Jamaica possibly? The man seems desperate and in quite a bad situation. The present action ends with what appears to be an impending possible crash by use of a fade-out with the caption: "Earlier".

So, "earlier", the protagonist named Michael gets into his airport rental which is problematic as it apparently isn't the vehicle he requested. Being already late and apparently seeking to renew a troubled life and relationship he calls a woman who he is to meet. This movie is already playing on the modus operandi of giving almost no back-story excepting there has been trouble in Michael's life, likely of the criminal kind, and he is in a far place hoping for a renewed relationship with his significant other (who turns out to be his wife who is employed at The American Embassy). Audibly, as we yet have no idea who the woman is, a phone conversation transpires in which she warns Michael not to let her down again - to which he says he will not. He repeats "stay out of trouble" several time over to himself as he drives. Funny, the writers feel it is important we know that trouble will ensue by ramming it home...Wow, thanks!

As Michael drives everything seems "off". He gets lost and in stuck traffic. A call to the woman who he is meeting underscores just how "hanging-on-a-thread" the their relationship is as she mentions a reference to if he has stopped for liquor implying myriad trust issues. Good, now we can have a "doomed" love story undercurrent!

While waiting in traffic, a wolf casually strolls by his rear-view mirror between traffic. Spooky? Things are definitely off in this place. Two kids pull a "grift" on him as he waits. Things ramp up for the worse. He resumes his trek to meet the woman, Angie which turns out to be his (estranged?) wife, but not only is he still lost, but he finds a gun under the seat and he gets a phone call from a mysterious mobile phone planted among the things in the car. After this he decides to just dump the car and it's contents, but a second call convinces him that there was a legitimate mix-up involving an under-cover police person for who the car was intended. He is to meet the police to simply exchange the car. While the viewer now has a feeling of a story coming together you're still as "lost" as the Michael character is as he tries to find his new destination. This movie purposely holds back hoping to build suspense. Even realizing he will get a "tongue-lashing" from Angie, Michael calls her to get directions to his car-exchange destination. She is told she has to trust him and to not ask questions. She acquiesces because you know she just loves the punishment by her one "true" love has already given...And, now there promises to be more good times ahead!

Just as Michael receives Angie's directions (possibly alluding to much more than how to get to "Smut" street) things get much worse. A tied-up woman emerges from the back seat area. Things build toward maximum strangeness as Michael is almost shot and another call, from who Michael believes to be the helpful police, exposes that whoever these people are they know that he has broken his parole and are not the trust-able kind of police. The passenger is a public official about to expose corruption inside the government and she believes she is to be eliminated at whatever cost. The chief of police is heading a major sex-trafficking ring. Now, after a bit of painful slow build-up, a story is starting to develop.

The meeting goes wrong just as expected. Michael and Rachel, the kidnapped public prosecutor, escape...Yeah, that was expected even though they were outclassed in manpower, horsepower, and firepower. Did we expect anything less? Not exactly, plus we get a dumb fierily car crash by one of the chase vehicles. There is much more unbelievable evading the police to be done however, so apparently even though Michael's wife is "safe" inside the U.S. Embassy he becomes a man on a mission with nothing to lose. This could be a decent, if already done, story...But, somehow the trek to the outcome isn't believable enough to "grip" the viewer with the suspense the movie aspires to create. It's just a depressing and far-fetched ride to the "big" ending.

Even if the first part of the movie was built on a slow, sometimes painfully, reveal. We now get, more or less, the standard running for your life from just about everyone. The great effort to build a slowing evolving bigger and bigger suspense seems to fail due, primarily, to the quite unbelievable evading of the police and living through it. I guess a Chrysler mini-van is suppose to make that more difficult or something? All in all, though watchable not particularly a good movie within the genre of an suspenseful drama with action. In the end it rates no higher than a 4 in spite of Paul Walker's serviceable (i.e. decent yet not saving) acting hampered by an extremely tepid screenplay.

[MIOjha · 4/10 · 8 March 2013]

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.

[gradyharp · 3/10 · 9 November 2013]

Writer/director Mukunda Michael Dewil gives us yet another boilerplate story who main character is a car chase. Set in Johannesburg South Africa the place may be different but the plot is threadbare. The whole film would have been better if the lead character Michael Woods (portrayed by the hunky Paul Walker) had been allowed to take off his shirt to show the better part of his talent which has been misused in this boring little drama. The remainder of the cast (with the possible exception of Naima McLean and Gys de Villiers is misused or unremarkable.

For those who wish to see a plot out line, the following my provide that information: 'Michael (Paul Walker) is an ex-con breaking his parole conditions to visit the ex-wife he hasn't seen in 5 years. He's late and a power outage at the airport rental company mixes up his booking. Driving now, he hears a phone beep but not his phone -a phone inside the rental cars glove compartment. Someone probably left it by mistake. Stuck in traffic now, Michael, scratching around under the car seat, feels something - a gun, the kind of gun you kill people with. The phone rings and Michael is meant to acknowledge receipt of the message. Michael tries to mumble out some explanation that it's not his phone, but a rental mix-up. The phone goes dead. The phone rings again. The voice is friendlier now, explaining he got the wrong car: it was meant for an undercover policeman. Michael is relieved he's not in trouble. The detective gives Michael directions to drop off the Minivan and get another vehicle. Michael gets lost, the minivan gets stuck on a bumpy dirt road. Michael struggles to get the vehicle out of a ditch, having to really give it some gas. The minivan pops out of the ditch. But as it does, the back seat flips forward -- something rolling out of the trunk! A woman, bound and gagged. He pulls off her gag. Weak but with enough awareness to see Michael is no threat, she tells him she's been kidnapped, she's got to testify in a major corruption trial. Without her testimony the prosecution has no case.' And car chase goes on and on and on.

For those unable to find anything else on the On Demand channels, this will pass the time – but it is definitely headed for obscurity.

Grady Harp

[jtindahouse · 3/10 · 10 January 2014]

I was very saddened, as was everyone, by the recent passing of Paul Walker. He may not have been the finest actor around, but he had charisma and screen presence. He seemed to love doing movies involving cars as a central theme. Unfortunately this may have skewed his decision on deciding to do 'Vehicle 19', because not many could debate this was a blight on his career.

The first thing that must be mentioned is the grim view it portrays of Johannesburg, South Africa. From what I understand of the place (having never been) what we see is quite accurate to how things really are, but it just felt as though the quantity it was shown in was overkill. There were constantly people coming up to cars with knives demanding wallets, or kids coming up and distracting from one window while another child steals things from the other window, or even people driving by a pulled over police car and throwing things at it before driving off. Just a few examples of things that just kept coming up and were for the most part completely unrelated to the story and held little relevance to anything. Perhaps writer/director Mukunda Michael Dewil had a bad experience there once?

The writing is lazy throughout. The opening scene shows Walker's character in a car chase trying to avoid the police. The screen then pauses and we are shown the word on the screen "earlier". I don't mind beginning a movie with a scene that takes place later in the piece, but the scene needs to provide at least some intrigue or mystery. This movie is called 'Vehicle 19', it wouldn't have taken a genius to work out there would be a car chase in it at some point. The set-up is incredibly lazy, to the point that no explanation is even attempted as to why Walker's character is given the wrong car in the first place. The characters make incredibly unrealistic decisions throughout which makes it really hard to have any empathy for them. Naima McLean's acting was near unwatchable. Walker himself does what he can with a terrible script and terrible actors to work off. I was actually impressed with the effort he put in. I'm sure he realised pretty early in the piece what a shocker he'd signed on to, so it can't have been easy.

It's a real shame this movie has to stay on Walker's résumé, especially in the latter part of it. He had some pretty good movies in his time, 'Joy Ride' being a personal favourite of mine and of course the 'Fast and Furious' series. Of course no actor is clean of the odd shocker so it'll be forgiven. But I plead with you - if you get the urge to go and rent/buy some Walker films to remember him by just skip over this one.

[rightwingisevil · 27 March 2013]

rented a car at the airport, needed a passenger car but got a mini-van instead? then there were cell phone in the compartment, a gun with a silencer on the floor....do you think we are fools who never rented cars at the airports in any city of the world? you think it possible that all these highly unlikely scenarios would be possible only in south Africa? givemeabreak! first of all, when you rent a car, the car rental would never let you have a car that you don't want. then when a rental was returned, the whole car would have at least checked by the rental car employees to see if there's any scratch or damage on the car, they'd also check the interior, usually, they'd have the car interior vaccumed and, if the car turned out to be dirty, they sure would even shampooed it completely with cheap chemicals always with horrible odor strong enough to make you gag. furthermore, they'd check especially your gas meter to see if you have filled up to the original gas level. unless you've prepaid some money to waive the gas consumed beforehand, you have to go into the car rental office to pay what they think you have to compensate the gas you've wasted. now, why it possible that a guy who rented this mini-van and would have left his gun and his cell phone in the vehicle? a hit-man would prefer a mini-van to carry out the hit? why he'd have left his gun and his cell phone, these two most important and absolutely necessary items in a rented car??. then when a street kid showed up at his driver seat window and he finally decided to open the window, how come the passenger window would also have opened at the same time? this scene only served the purpose of that petty thief scene and this scene didn't serve any further purpose. the whole movie was just look stupid and almost every scenario did not have the foundation to run true. what a waste, dude, going to south Africa to shoot a stupid film. i've noticed that paul walker was one of the producers of this film, and what a joke!

[indieke · 6/10 · 14 May 2013]

I actually enjoyed the movie. It gave you well the insecurity about being a foreigner in South - Africa. If all bad things happen to you, how to out of this mess, in a foreign country. The characters are a bit shallow, but then this is just a simple story.

Without being a great movie, it isn't, it kept me well entertained. yes there are plot holes, but on the hole, you are always wondering what is going to be next.

I would have even given it a 7, if the end was not disappointing, and it seemed, that it was rushed into. Many questions about Paul Walker's character stay unanswered, and you feel like something is missing. A bit more explanation. Not that it matter that much, as you not NEED to know to understand his motifs.

[callanvass · 4/10 · 9 October 2013]

(Credit IMDb) A foreign traveler (Walker) unknowingly picks up a rental car that will tie him to a web of corrupt local police.

Paul Walker has proved he can be a good actor. His performance in Running Scared was fantastic, and while I would never consider them great performances, he always has presence in a Fast & Furious movie. Staring in STD junk like this, is not going to help his career what so ever. It starts off well enough. We get an exciting car chase, but it's a prelude of events to come in the end. Most of this movie literally takes place in a minivan. Paul Walker rarely ever gets out of the van. It was a potentially intriguing idea, with poor execution. I actually didn't mind it at first. I was really enjoying Paul Walker & Naima McLean (Rachel Shabangu, the kidnapped woman in the car) chemistry and banter. But just as I really started to get into it, her character disappears, and it all goes to hell. I soon became very bored, and the villain (Detective Smith) talking on the phone all the time, became somewhat tiresome. The ending is especially inane. It felt entirely pointless after witnessing the ending, and did nothing but anger me. As I said, Paul Walker is pretty good here, but he isn't enough to make this anything more than mediocre.

Bottom line: See it if you must, but don't expect anything remotely worthwhile, other than the first 30 minutes or so. I would definitely skip this one if I were you. It's just not worth it

4/10

[mondo Lal · 9/10 · 22 March 2013]

Very well done. By far the best thing I have ever seen Paul Walker in. This is what this guy needs, meaty roles to play not his FF stuff. The guy holds this film in very tense ride. Not sure who this director is ( he;s the writer too i see) but well done, maybe the ext Neil Bloomkamp here.

And JoBurg looks a menace too.

Keeping the camera in the car helps the tension. Must have been a bitch to film it all like that.

Solid all round. Sure this is going to get many people to take notice.

Well done.

[bastiaan0740 · 6/10 · 5 April 2013]

Mild spoilers.

Before I started this review, I read what a few other reviewers had to say. I sometimes do that to see if what I have to tell has already been said, in which case it's pointless to repeat the review. And for this movie I read the complaint of one reviewer about the rental car being returned by a hit-man with the gun, cellphone and living victim still inside - which doesn't make sense, unless you're the most retarded hit-man ever. In fact, being unaware that this would be the case, I started piecing the plot together as the movie went along, and assumed that the car was being set up for the hit-man, to kill he victim somewhere remote and dispose of the body - with the car rental company being in on the deal, but making the mistake of handing out the wrong key to a passer-by. Still dubious though. I may need to re-watch the movie to get more clearance on that, but I accepted as a given that our hero somehow stumbled into the adventure in some way. What bothered me more on the 'vehicle' angle, except the unclear premise, is the reluctance of our protagonist to ditch the car, even after it being broad casted on the news, the car being recognized, and it having bullet holes in the side window. Man, at least pull your window down, you're in Africa after all. Why would a person breaking parole purposely drive away in the wrong car against the wishes of the rental company and risk an arrest? And why oh why didn't anyone bother to track the rental with its GPS? All rentals have it to prevent theft. Especially in Africa. We get a lot of emphasis on the vehicle for no motivated reason; the movie is even named after it and most of the adventure takes place in it - but the approach feels forced.

That being said, what you will get is an above average thriller with great cinematography and acting. But there is something off in this movie and I can't quite put my finger on it. It may be that some characters - the judge and the ex-wife - get no screen time, or that the appearance of the bad guy is underplayed.

Still, I was genuinely entertained.

Moderate recommendation.

[liezllubbe · 2/10 · 9 August 2013]

I am from South Africa, and I wanted to walk out of this movie, because South Africa isn't even 10% as they show in this movie. Everything was unrealistic, even the cars the police drive in. The news broad casted about what happened, please! The weird dog on the highway! Come on! The fires next to the road, please, the chickens: ahhh! No really! Everything: twang! I was very disappointed! Very! Did not even recognized my own country! I cannot believe Paul Walker would do such a low budget film. I will not recommend it to anyone. I gave the movie a two, but for me it actually deserve a seven, Johannesburg does NOT look like that, and you don't have all that happening here. It was unrealistic and too much crap!

[albrechtcm · 2/10 · 25 July 2013]

In theory this might have been a decent thriller. A prosecutor obtains proof that the chief of police is the head of a sexploitation ring. Step two would be for the cops either to shoot the prosecutor dead in her tracks or perhaps kidnap her and whack her elsewhere. But no, they tie her up and leave her in the back of a rental van at the airport with a cell phone and a gun for, presumably, a hit man to come along and finish the job. Yeah. Of course there's a mix up and they give the van to a parolee who broke parole by leaving Texas and coming to South Africa (I imagine he had a passport tucked up his sleeve) to meet his wife who is waiting in the American Embassy. Little do they know that when he shows up at the embassy, he'll immediately be sent back to Texas for breaking his parole. Yeah. During all this we tour through all the most unsavory and unlikely parts of Johannesburg. There is the obligatory abandoned warehouse where the rent is cheap and the wrecking yard as well (how the hell did this guy end up in a wrecking yard?). This is mostly over acted and the characters are unbelievably dense. We've all seen all the tricks and subterfuges the bad guys pull, many times in fact, but this guy is so lame he falls for each and every one of them. The action sequences and car chases are okay, but aside from that…In one scene the "hero" is supposed to drive out of the garage and turn right and drive straight to the courthouse, the building with the big steps. Twenty minutes of cruising and chasing and being chased later, we still haven't quite got to the courthouse steps. It's movies like this that are going to be the death knoll for Red box. You tube has better offerings.

[Tony Heck · 5/10 · 19 June 2013]

"There was a mix-up. That car was meant to be picked up by one of our undercover police officers." Michael Woods (Walker) flies to South Africa to see his girlfriend that he hasn't seen in a long time. When he gets to the airport there is a problem with the rental car agency and he grabs another car just to get to his girl as fast as he can. While driving he receives a call from a stranger telling him the car was not meant for him. When he finds a woman in the trunk with a secret that can take down the entire police force Michael is forced into a situation he is not used to. I have to admit that I am not a Paul Walker fan at all so remember that in this review. For the plot and idea of this the movie was pretty slow moving. Do not expect a Fast & Furious type movie. This is more like the Transporter, but slower. The entire movie, except for the first few minutes takes place entirely in a car. Normally that doesn't bother me, but this just didn't have enough action to keep me interested in the one shot. Overall, to me Paul Walker was neither fast nor furious in this, and neither was the movie. I give it a C+.

[in1984 · 3/10 · 13 May 2013]

2.9 of 10. The writer/director has a career in cinematography, especially in capturing urban South Africa and maybe car chases, but not as a story teller or director. Sometimes stupidity and idiots fit in a film. This isn't one of those times.

From the plot setup to the end nearly nothing is well thought out. You're in a foreign country you've never been too, don't speak the language, and they drive on the reverse side, so what do you do? Do you rent a car to drive yourself? This would have been far more interesting if after viewing the interesting sites of the city, Walker drives over and kills a child while looking at the map, drinking, and talking on his cell phone, then goes to prison and gets repeatedly beaten and raped before being sentenced to death, but saved by a rich politician relative who votes for the prison corporation that runs the jail. (BTW, I thought of that instantly as I wrote this review and would love to see that on film - copyright and money please!) Unfortunately, we have to suffer through a story trying to make an American idiot (both in and out of character) into a hero.

As it is, it's a film about a really stupid American in Africa, so Paul Walker makes a good casting pick in that sense. Add to that he's a recovering alcoholic and has the attention span of a 6 year old after a candy bar and pop and you'll be correct to conclude this is a frustrating film to watch. The writer/director also needs to catch up on watching Mythbusters.

[kosmasp · 3/10 · 26 October 2013]

It might be a nice look of JoBurg as another reviewer stated, but I don't think this should count into the vote of your movie. Or how much you enjoy it. If it helps you though, than good for you. The movie is a bit like Transporter and other movies of the same kind. Unfortunately it never takes off (no pun intended).

It's not really Paul Walkers fault, but he does get typecast a lot with Fast & Furious themed movies. On the other hand he only really succeed in one other movie he was starring himself: Running Scared. You kinda hope he gets another script like that. Until then stick to the Fast & Furious franchise .. or watch him in lesser roles (Pawnshop Chronicles), if you're a fan of Paul Walker

[mtruemp34 · 2/10 · 24 July 2013]

I thought that the trailer looked really interesting but when I finally watched the real thing, I wished it was over and wanted my money back. The acting was poor, half the time the talking that went on was through the phone and my brother and I couldn't understand half of what was being said. Also, some of "effects", shall I say, were horrible. I won't say who but at one point someone is shot from behind but the bullet hole ends up being on the side of the car and that person would not have survived as long as he\she did if the bullet had actually hit where they portrayed it. Another thing, you don't really get to feel for the characters because there isn't any time to even get to know them. The main character's background is mentioned very briefly and its hard to get to know him at all or even feel bad for him when you know practically nothing. The way the camera shot the movie was also a bit iffy. It would shake a lot and the cars "exploding" looked really fake considering all the new effects we have. So, overall, I think it's a 2.

[coljam21 · 4/10 · 26 April 2014]

The Beginning was pretty abysmal. Walker has no charisma and zero screen presence. He was totally not convincing as a man desperate to keep his marriage together. He did come across however as a juvenile, frustrated American youth who went to the wrong country for spring break. The movie improved dramatically when Naima McLean was introduced as the kidnapped attorney. She was likable and has great acting chops. She added class and sophistication to the rudimentary film.

In all I guess I would I have to give Walker an 'A' for effort. This movie is right along the lines of what he is known for, which is movies that are full of tasteless action but lack talent. I could see why this was not released in the U.S. It would have definitely bombed in U.S. theaters but I give it a 5 because it is what it is and did not pretend to be anything more.

[Sameer-Hussain1 · 1 March 2013]

The movie plot which you know of is shattered to bits by over acting and the need to show the state of Johannesburg, South Africa. This is not what I paid for!!! The movie in essence is built around three events which made this movie one of those which you don't really care about as far ads "whats coming next!!" is concerned. The sound track is half of what I kind of remembered from Dredd, which is one good movie if you haven't seen it yet, but it goes to show what a bad movie has the power to do. Make you nostalgic about recent movies you've seen not only to draw parallels but to find an escape you thought only ecstasy could provide you with!If your a fan of district 9(2009)or Monsters(2010) then this movie is the one for you. Otherwise just go for Parker(2013) or even Snitch(2012).