Vehicle 19
A parolee becomes the target of a massive police manhunt after inadvertently picking up a rental car with a female whistleblower tied up in the trunk. Now, as the police attempt to silence the woman before she can testify about the city's rampant corruption, the ex-con who just regained his freedom must defend her life, and clear his own name.
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- Cast:
- Paul Walker , Gys de Villiers , Andrian Mazive
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Reviews
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Horrible, horrible movie. I though Getaway, with Ethan Hawke and Selena Gomez, was the bottom of the barrel as far as car chase movies. But that mound of suck is Shakespeare comparatively. Very sad that this was one of Walker's last films. I understand that this was low-budget, and as stupid as some of the story and character actions are, they are not the main problem with this. Its main issue is technical. This is one of the worst-shot films I've ever seen. I've seen no-budget films that look better, have better camera placement and scene blocking, and easier-to-follow action. 3/4 of the shots are close-ups where one of the actor's head takes up half of the screen area. Action scenes are quick-cut nonsensically. Editing is horrible. I've read that the intention was to give a claustrophobic feel to the movie as it almost entirely takes place from inside a vehicle. But there are competent ways to give that feel and then there are incompetent ways. This film is big on incompetency.
It becomes clear within the opening fifteen minutes that Vehicle 19 is fundamentally flawed. There's not much logic in the plot and it really needs audience to suspense their disbelief. Having Paul Walker doesn't help in the slightest as he's given so little to work with, not to mention there's no merit in cinematography as it's almost entirely shot in that one car. The overcompensating music is loud enough for monster truck.Michael Woods (Paul Walker) is a former convict, he goes to Johannesburg to see his loved one. Unfortunately, he takes a wrong car from the rental, containing some illicit packaged stashed inside. This revelation will plunge him into the city's conspiracy and corruption. Now most people would freak out if they find spiders on their cars, but Michael Woods chooses a different unnatural reaction. It's unclear if Paul Walkers was still engrossed in his Fast and Furious character and thought he could drift the trouble away or he's channeling Jason Statham's character from Transporter.Heck, even Transporter had the audacity of presenting goofy action, Vehicle 19 wants you to take it seriously as thriller despite the highly unrealistic script. This makes me wonder how the script got passed in the first place, why there was no one proofread it, point to a certain scene, any scene for that matter, and express how implausible it was. Furthermore, half of it is rambling and random shouting, but the characters still go along with the absurdity.There is not much development as it progresses, only stifling dialogues, strange change in behavior and a few unbelievable occurrences. By the time it reaches halfway point, the movie produces a numbing effect. The use of Johannesburg as setting is actually a good decision, it's exotic and adds to the atmosphere. However, since most time is spent on the car, it brings little value in the end. It's not like this is Collateral where the production incorporate the scenery into an integral part of the movie, it just drives by aimlessly.The end is just as bad, so without spoiling anything, it's not worth tolerating the entirety of the movie. Vehicle 19 is bound for junkyard.
Paul Walker, unfortunately for him, is, at best, a 'B-movie' actor. Being cast as the leading man seems to be quite a stretch for him, however, as we can see here, he does try his best.In Vehicle 19, he plays a man, freshly released from jail, who picks up the 'wrong' car in a foreign country. Unfortunately for him, a corrupt force of police want its contents and - guess what - our Paul isn't in the mood to give it to them.The film's major plus point is that it's short. That may sound harsh, but the story - from what little there is of it - benefits from not being dragged out too much. Plus Mr Walker has less to do.The film mainly involves Paul Walker driving - very fast - around foreign locations as he tries to evade one detachment of baddies after the next, until he finds himself up against the head honcho.It's not bad, but then it's nothing special either. You've probably seen a thousand movies like it (and a thousand better ones and a thousand worse ones, too). If you fancy a 'no-brainer' car chase-type film then give it a go, just don't expect too much from what Paul Walker does with his time in between Fast and Furious flicks.
Not that great, not that bad, something to watch for action lovers. Not sure it was the best "product placement" advertisement decision for Hertz Car Rentals though! Being filmed in South Africa made it a bit more interesting. All kinds of decisions/actions of the characters were a little too dumb to believe. It's like WHY IN THE WORLD wouldn't he/she have said this or done that? And it was pretty much all through the movie! Are viewers REALLY supposed to enjoy characters with no imagination to do/say smarter things? At least the acting was good and the scenes not so over the top to be totally ridiculous as is the case with so many action flicks. It is something to watch at least if one has cable and there is nothing else.