VEHICLE 19 (2013)

Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Mukunda Michael Dewil
Cast: Paul Walker, Naima McLean, Gys de Villiers, Tshepo Maseko, Andrian Mazive, Welile Nzuza
RunTime: 1 hr 25 mins
Rating: PG13
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 4 July 2013 

Synopsis: An action thriller starring Paul Walker (the Fast and Furious franchise) VEHICLE 19 is a white-knuckle ride about a man who unwittingly gets in the wrong rental car at Johannesburg airport with terrifying consequences. The man, an American parolee trying to go straight and re-unite with his ex-wife, soon realises that not only is he a stranger in inhospitable surroundings but is the target of an entire police force that will use any means necessary to stop him and the tied-up female "passenger" he discovers in the back of the vehicle from getting to the courthouse to testify against top-to-bottom corruption.

Movie Review:

Unless you are seriously suffering from Fast & Furious withdrawal symptoms or a huge fan of Paul Walker, you might consider hopping on to Vehicle 19.

Produced by Walker himself and shot entirely in South Africa, Vehicle 19 is a low-budget, action thriller that tries to cash on the popularity of the Fast & Furious franchise and of course, having Walker as the leading man helps to misled some unsuspicious audience as well.

The premise actually has a pretty promising start. Walker plays Michael Woods, an American who is violating parole to win back his ex-wife, now working for the U.S. embassy in South Africa. But before he gets to meet her, shit happens once again to the troubled man. He got the wrong rental car at the airport and shortly after, a gun is found under the seat, a phone not belonging to him rings and also a gagged woman is found in the compartment. The woman in the end turned out to be some prosecutor who found out that the Chief of Police is involved in some sex trafficking ring and she has evidence of it. With the corrupted cops hot on their heels, Woods must turned the evidence to a trusted judge before he is chased down and killed.

The script sounds like a feasible Luc Besson’s action piece which he churned out rather frequently in fact the part about bad guys being the police sounds like a fantastic excuse to choreograph outrageous car chases around the city. However, writer and director Mukunda Michael Dewil has something else on his mind, likely Colin Farrell’s Phone Booth and Ryan Reynolds’ Buried has inspired him to attempt something similar though with a minivan. That is to confine our hero inside the car and calls it – The-camera- never-leaves-the-car-concept.  

The idea is a bold one not necessary one that is bad if done well unfortunately Dewil has neither the resources nor storytelling skill to make it a clock-ticking, satisfying ride. Woods spent a considerable amount of time mumbling to his wife over his Blackberry, talking to the corrupted cop, cruising around, went for a car wash and a car spray not realizing the audience are staring at their watches waiting for things to happen. And we are talking about a swift 85 minutes running time in total.

Walker might not be one of the best actors around but at least he nailed down that brooding, wrong-guy-at-the-wrong-place character even without frequent co-stars Vin Diesel and Sung Kang around. In addition, Vehicle 19 obviously is not the appropriate title to sell the country as a tourism location because every black man out there seems to be a mugger, kidnapper and pickpocket of sort. We can’t really figure out what Dewil is thinking by the time the credits roll but we are definitely thinking about the concluding chapter to the Fast & Furious franchise instead. 

Movie Rating:  

(Indie title disguising as an action thriller, just opt on to Vehicle 20 if there is)

Review by Linus Tee