Vehicle 19 (2013) starring Paul Walker, Naima McLean, Gys de Villiers, Leyla Haidarian, Tshepo Maseko directed by Mukunda Michael Dewil Movie Review

Vehicle 19 (2013)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Vehicle 19 (2013) starring Paul Walker

Just Driving Around

Having touched down in Africa Michael Woods (Paul Walker) day goes from bad to worse when he goes to pick up his rental car and finds he has been given a mini-van rather than a sedan. He then has his sun glasses nicked by a couple of kids hustling the cars in the traffic jam. But that is nothing to when he finds a gun under a seat and a girl in the trunk and in the midst of a crime involving corrupt police.

Never have I watched a movie which had all the ingredients yet failed so badly as when I watched "Vehicle 19". And the reason why is that it lacks action and excitement, playing out at its own pace. But before I get to that let me tell you what is right; we have Michael who is breaking the law having travelled to Africa all so he can see someone, we have the mystery of a gun, a mobile phone and the girl in the trunk and we have the fact the movie is shot entirely from inside the car even when Michael is outside of the car. All these things including having Paul Walker in the car are good and as a concept "Vehicle 19" could have been great.

But the laboured pacing, the tour guide cinematography all add to a pretty tensionless movie which just plods along and never really manages to come to life in the way which was intended. It makes it surprisingly dull even when there are moments of action such as when Michael spots the girl in the trunk fail to come to life. It also borders on the ridiculous during some of the action especially during scenes involving gunfire.

What this all boils down to is that "Vehicle 19" just doesn't do it for me and it is a shame as from a concept point of view it is good.


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