If you fantasize about stealing exotic, high-end cars, co-writer & scenarist Ant Horasanli's "REV" will make your mouth water with anticipation. Even after H.B. Halicki's original "Gone in 60 Seconds" (1974) and the Nicolas Cage remake of 2000, along with the entire "Fast & Furious" franchise, there is still room for another derivative stolen car movie. Mind you, Harsanli's polished Toronto-based, grand theft auto thriller isn't crowned by a celebrity cast. You've probably never heard of actors and actresses, such as Francesco Filice, Sean Rey, and Hannah Gordon. Nevertheless, they make charming, but convincing crooks. The biggest name in "REV" is Vivica A. Fox, and the "Independence Day" actress hasn't been in anything notable since "Independence Day: Resurgence" (2016). Cast as a hard-boiled Toronto Police Detective after the bust of the century, she radiates a rather villainous vibe. The standard-issue screenplay by "Gear" writer Reza Sholeh and Harsanli careens around all the preposterous curves with the usual scenes and suspense you would expect from such an auto-theft thriller.
Occasionally, this nifty, low-budget, stolen car saga delivers a surprise or two, including an upbeat ending, that will help you handle the speed bumps that get in the way. Most of the criminal activities depicted here are familiar. Ironically, our protagonist--who doubles as the narrator--comments that if movies like "Gone in 60 Seconds" weren't made, then he would never have started stealing cars. The filmmakers don't approach their subject matter as a primer for car thieves. The chief difference between "REV" and all those other spectacular stolen car thrillers is "REV's" South African connection. Not only do these car thieves boost high-end autos, but they also load into shipping containers and send them on voyages across the Atlantic with narcotics crammed in every crevice. Warlords and other crooked officials in Ghana take possession of these dream rides as well as the contraband concealed within them. They live the high life under the watchful eyes of their heavily armed sentinel warrior children.
Unlike "The Fast & the Furious," the protagonist in "REV" is a career car thief. Toronto PD arrests him, but then allows him to continue his criminal capers. Now, however, he acts as their informant. Mikey Barley (Francesco Filice of "Detainee X") gets caught early on stealing police cruisers, but he stays out of jail until the Toronto Police nab him for something bigger. Mikey pinches a Shelby Cobra Replica and stashes it in an underground parking lot. He figures if the car contains a tracking device, the vehicle won't be there when he returns for it. A week afterward, Mikey finds the Shelby untouched in the same parking slot. Slipping behind the wheel to crank it up, he fails to notice two Toronto PD cruisers pulling up behind him. Armed policemen draw a bead on him with their pistols and then arrest him. Detective Reid (Vivica A. Fox) gives Mikey a choice: work with them or serve an eternity in prison. Naturally, Mikey prefers to be a snitch. Now, he regrets he ever quit his quaint computer store job.
Now, Mikey must find somebody who traffics in stolen cars. He attracts the attention of one of Toronto's more notorious car thieves that the police have had no luck busting. Audaciously, Mikey targets Charlie (Sean Ray of "Betrayed") and steals Charlie's car, a 2004 Lamborghini Gallardo. Later, he finds himself in deep with the notorious car thief. Stealing cars for Charlie, Mikey grows fond of the exhilarating nightlife, the booze, and the broads, until Charlie's stunning girlfriend Ava (Hannah Gordon of "Scarecrows") wants to lay more than her eyes on him. Mikey realizes he is fiddling with forbidden fruit. Earlier, he saw Charlie fly into a violent rage when a guy tried to dance with his babelicious. Charlie nearly stomped the poor dude to death! Even Ava realizes she is juggling more than dynamite when she starts sleeping with Mikey behind Charlie's back. When Charlie's ambitious but treacherous accomplice, Sammy (Alex Loubert of "The Heretics") unveils his plan to load the cars with narcotics galore, Charlie dreads the extra heat such a scheme may draw. At about the same time, Detective Reid learns Mikey's cover has been blown! Altogether, neither the criminals nor the cops claim total victory at fadeout. Each suffers setbacks to their grand schemes and withdraws from the field frustrated. Clocking in at a nimble 91 minutes, with a boisterous techno musical soundtrack, "REV" generates enough engine revolutions per minute to keep you occupied with its slick sights and sounds.
Occasionally, this nifty, low-budget, stolen car saga delivers a surprise or two, including an upbeat ending, that will help you handle the speed bumps that get in the way. Most of the criminal activities depicted here are familiar. Ironically, our protagonist--who doubles as the narrator--comments that if movies like "Gone in 60 Seconds" weren't made, then he would never have started stealing cars. The filmmakers don't approach their subject matter as a primer for car thieves. The chief difference between "REV" and all those other spectacular stolen car thrillers is "REV's" South African connection. Not only do these car thieves boost high-end autos, but they also load into shipping containers and send them on voyages across the Atlantic with narcotics crammed in every crevice. Warlords and other crooked officials in Ghana take possession of these dream rides as well as the contraband concealed within them. They live the high life under the watchful eyes of their heavily armed sentinel warrior children.
Unlike "The Fast & the Furious," the protagonist in "REV" is a career car thief. Toronto PD arrests him, but then allows him to continue his criminal capers. Now, however, he acts as their informant. Mikey Barley (Francesco Filice of "Detainee X") gets caught early on stealing police cruisers, but he stays out of jail until the Toronto Police nab him for something bigger. Mikey pinches a Shelby Cobra Replica and stashes it in an underground parking lot. He figures if the car contains a tracking device, the vehicle won't be there when he returns for it. A week afterward, Mikey finds the Shelby untouched in the same parking slot. Slipping behind the wheel to crank it up, he fails to notice two Toronto PD cruisers pulling up behind him. Armed policemen draw a bead on him with their pistols and then arrest him. Detective Reid (Vivica A. Fox) gives Mikey a choice: work with them or serve an eternity in prison. Naturally, Mikey prefers to be a snitch. Now, he regrets he ever quit his quaint computer store job.
Now, Mikey must find somebody who traffics in stolen cars. He attracts the attention of one of Toronto's more notorious car thieves that the police have had no luck busting. Audaciously, Mikey targets Charlie (Sean Ray of "Betrayed") and steals Charlie's car, a 2004 Lamborghini Gallardo. Later, he finds himself in deep with the notorious car thief. Stealing cars for Charlie, Mikey grows fond of the exhilarating nightlife, the booze, and the broads, until Charlie's stunning girlfriend Ava (Hannah Gordon of "Scarecrows") wants to lay more than her eyes on him. Mikey realizes he is fiddling with forbidden fruit. Earlier, he saw Charlie fly into a violent rage when a guy tried to dance with his babelicious. Charlie nearly stomped the poor dude to death! Even Ava realizes she is juggling more than dynamite when she starts sleeping with Mikey behind Charlie's back. When Charlie's ambitious but treacherous accomplice, Sammy (Alex Loubert of "The Heretics") unveils his plan to load the cars with narcotics galore, Charlie dreads the extra heat such a scheme may draw. At about the same time, Detective Reid learns Mikey's cover has been blown! Altogether, neither the criminals nor the cops claim total victory at fadeout. Each suffers setbacks to their grand schemes and withdraws from the field frustrated. Clocking in at a nimble 91 minutes, with a boisterous techno musical soundtrack, "REV" generates enough engine revolutions per minute to keep you occupied with its slick sights and sounds.