Director: Justin Lin
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker
The Fast and Furious series has been in a tail spin since the first film was released to theaters back in 2001. Neither 2 Fast 2 Furious or the third installment Tokyo Drift were able to catch lightning in a bottle like the first one was able to. I suppose Universal realized that the popularity for their franchise was slumping and so the original cast members were rounded up and the result is Fast and Furious.
The movie picks up sometime between the second and third films, taking place before the events in Tokyo Drift. Dominic(Vin Diesel) and his gang, are in Mexico stealing gas, and O’Conner(Paul Walker) is in California chasing down thugs, attempting to bust up illegal drug rings for the FBI. After learning that the cops are after him, Dom decides to leave his crew and return to the US, saving them from sharing in his demise. When tragedy strikes, the same old players are thrown into the underground street racing scene once again; Dom to out for revenge, and O’Conner looking for a big bust.
Fast and Furious is not going to be a film for every one, I will make that clear up front. This isn’t the Citizen Kane of car flicks, the story won’t blow you away, and no one is going to win a academy award for their effort. That isn’t what this movie is attempting to be, Justin Lin has a fairly good idea of what his audience wants to see, and he brings that vision to the screen. People go to see Fast and Furious movies to see cars go fast and get smashed and the movie does not disappoint in this regard. The racing sequences are edge of your seat thrill rides, with plenty of speed and destruction along the way and the story does just enough to keep it interesting in between the next action sequence.
The story in this F&F film is definitely an improvement over the last two and manages to keep the film from being just about the car chases, if you saw the first film, and are invested in the characters, the story is sure to keep your interest and provide a decent amount of entertainment value. The acting can best be described as serviceable, Vin Diesel does a good job as Dom, but Walker can be somewhat wooden at times, in particular his early exchange with Jordanna Brewster’s character, Mia, feels awkward. The scene is supposed to be an emotional charged one and Walker’s delivery is distracting and devoid of emotion.
The race sequences look great, and are well executed, with CGI being used sparingly, a welcome change. In particular the tryout race, is a joy to watch, feeling like it is a real life representation of something you would seen in the Burnout video games series. In these scenes Walker really comes into his own, as he really seems at home behind the wheel. There is quite a bit of CGI at other times, but the CGI is necessary in those instances.
This installment in the F&F franchise is definitely the best so far, the story is good, they have quite a bit of actual car stunts, and none of the actor are major detriments to the film. If you are looking for a movie where things go fast and stuff blows up then this is it. Fast and Furious is a sure fire guilty pleasure.
Score: 7/10
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