Fast & Furious
posted March 24, 2009 6:46 AM
This franchise may be losing its get-up-and-go
The Dim & The Dangerous franchise rolls along with an adequate fourth installment that reunites Vin Diesel and Paul Walker on the streets of LA and in the arid badlands dividing the U.S. and Mexico. Fast & Furious knows its limits and doesn’t try to do be anything it’s not. But would it hurt the bottom line to pay for a less simplistic screenplay or better script mechanics to smooth out the dialogue? Methinks it could only help. In any case, spring has arrived and it’s time to start revving the multiplex engines. Vroom. Vroom.
When Dom Toretto (Diesel) and Brian O’Conner (Walker) were last together at the end of The Fast and the Furious in ‘01, Brian let scofflaw Dom get away. Then Diesel peeled out leaving Walker behind the wheel for the Miami-set sequel 2 Fast 2 Furious. Figuring (correctly) the rush couldn’t last, Walker moved on when the franchise took to burning rubber in The Land of the Rising Sun, but Diesel returned for an uncredited appearance. Neither of their careers having taken off, Chrome Dome and Blue-eyes choose to share the asphalt for Tokyo Drift director Justin Lin.
Regarding the all-important RPMs, something inside Fast & Furious is spinning rapidly. It’s just not clear what. Looking under Dom or Brian’s hood is pointless; and because the chase sequences are so digitized and virtual (thanks to the integration of GPS into the mise-en-scene), you can’t say for sure it’s the wheels of their “10-second” hotrods either. The answer must lie in the effects pit, where the hard drives of the design team were evidently rotating overtime to create the illusion of speed. As exciting as they are, the action sequences still never pick up enough dramatic momentum to make us care.
The thrilling opening has Dom and crew ostensibly “lying low” in the Dominican Republic—if hijacking a gas tanker qualifies as being under the radar. (Credit goes to the trucker they target for fighting back and then saving his own skin and that of his pet iguana.) It’s rumored the cops are closing in so Dom bolts, leaving squeeze Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) with a wad of cash wrapped in a rosary. Her murder, nicely recreated in Dom’s vengeful mind, brings him back to LA where Brian is helping the FBI bust a major drug trafficking ring—the very same outfit responsible for Letty’s death. Both men decide to infiltrate the gang by auditioning as drivers for a drug-running, INS-eluding caravan. Following a nighttime race through tunnels straddling the border, the two estranged racers join forces.
While the choicest parts come early on, there’s enough left over to help ensure the movie will make a ton of dough. The demise of snarling, second banana baddie Fenix (Laz Alonso) is a satisfactory pay-off and was one of the few times that the audience at my screening—core fans, judging by appearances—got excited. The second biggest reaction came when Brian started to make out with Dom’s sis, Mia (Jordana Brewster). The character’s fleeting passion doesn’t lead to anything racy. The scene’s truncated feel is yet another signal that the MPAA goes easier on violence than sex.
That in turn raises the question of how the creative ante can be raised in a motorized melodrama such as Fast & Furious. The sky is the limit when it comes to the slow-witted dialogue (Mia to Dom: “Let this go before it’s too late.” Dom: “It’s already too late.”). As for thematic content, the flick’s ethnic gestures and multiracial shout-outs are window dressing. The heroes are pretty darn white, the Latinos are criminally inclined and Brian gets an Asian female agent to do his legwork inside the FBI task force. Nothing novel is added to the perennial dilemma of how to distinguish between the black hats and the white hats: again, men are divided between street justice and the integrity of the courtroom and law books.
How can such a muscular spectacle as Fast & Furious be juiced-up further, aside from projecting it in 3-D or IMAX? Soon enough, this franchise and others like it will be permanently impounded if filmmakers can’t figure out a way to inject speed that actually takes you somewhere.
Distributor: Universal
Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, John Ortiz, Laz Alonso and Gal Gadot
Director: Justin Lin
Screenwriter: Chris Morgan
Producers: Vin Diesel, Neal H. Moritz and Michael Fottrell
Genre: Action/Thriller
Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some sexual content, language and drug references
Running time: 107 min
Release date: April 3, 2009
49 Comments
Leave a comment
ion said:
suck fest bbooooooooobbbbooo
March 27, 2009 4:37 PM
Walid said:
Very Gooooooood The Movies
I'Watting
March 29, 2009 2:40 PM
wrt said:
mer her
March 30, 2009 8:45 AM
DEEJAY said:
I think the movie will be good becoz the rest of them are amazing
March 31, 2009 10:51 AM
jj said:
caint wait
March 31, 2009 6:16 PM
tojo said:
this review is terrible
March 31, 2009 6:56 PM
maria said:
I've been waiting for this movie for months you can imagine a little prep girl dats how some people label anyways back to the point yeah you Kan imagine me watching dis kinds of movies but i do there so interesting and full of adrenaline i ust get so into all of the fast and the furious movies im a big super huge ginormous fan... pinky promise dat if i have eyes and you guys keep making dis movies I'll watch them till the day i died
March 31, 2009 11:49 PM
me said:
i can wait i think it is going to be good
April 1, 2009 7:27 AM
yo said:
i cant wait!!
April 1, 2009 6:12 PM
Dperr said:
THIS MOVIE LOOKS INSANELY AWSOME I CANT WAIT!!!!!!!!!
April 1, 2009 6:24 PM
Anonymous said:
bull****!!!!
April 1, 2009 8:12 PM
Anonymous said:
why did you block my swer
April 1, 2009 8:13 PM
Anonymous said:
bitches
April 1, 2009 8:14 PM
miniman said:
it will be amazing, all of them are, im watching it!
April 2, 2009 10:23 AM
carol said:
omg cant wait...
April 2, 2009 10:32 AM
ls vtech said:
you all are a bunch of fags
April 2, 2009 1:22 PM
PRO STYLE STEVE said:
This review is biased and garbage. REAL CRITICS who viewed the movie 3 months ago gave it a 3/4 rating, which is a lot higher than 2.5/5. This review says nothing much about the new movie, but the old movies. This Review, like I said earlier, is unprofessional like the rest.
April 2, 2009 1:50 PM
Anonymous said:
i can't wait
April 3, 2009 5:51 AM
lol said:
You misspelled vtec civic nub. Unless you're talking about a phone...
April 3, 2009 6:52 AM
dido said:
I saw it already!!! that **** is tha bomb
April 3, 2009 4:36 PM
me said said:
This shet is da best. Who ever isnt going to see is freaking wack!!!!! Trust, se fast and furious cuz its bad ass and da chicks are freaking BOMB!!!!!
April 3, 2009 7:29 PM
LOL SAID said:
I agree, da movie is sick and those biches are freaking BOMB!!!!!
April 3, 2009 7:31 PM
ME SAID said:
I think that first guy who wrote a comment is ******* gay. **** you bich this movie is da best!!!
April 3, 2009 7:34 PM
joe said:
i seen fast and furious tonight and it kicks ass!
April 3, 2009 10:13 PM
joe said:
Vin diesel is bad to the bone! he kick some serious ass in this movie. i give it A+.
April 3, 2009 10:18 PM
Anonymous said:
Look for diesel and walker to do another fast and furious these guys work good together. And car screens will blow you away...!
April 3, 2009 10:23 PM
one quick STi said:
this was one of the best F&F movies i seen besides the first one it ties the first and third together leaving the low budget second out. they r already in the works of a F&F 5 after the breakout of dom and reunite han in europe to show what they did over thier leading up to the 3rd movie and showing reasons why hans shipments in 3 are so late stay tuned for the franchise for its the best in the last 20 years.
April 4, 2009 9:45 AM
Ashley Hay said:
The New Fast&Furious was totally a Kick ass movie. I loved everything about it, and both my brother and i really hope that they make a fith one because it's sort of obvious that they will because of they way this one ended. so with that I leave saying IF you haven't seen it then you had better get in theaters quick to watch it before tickets are sold out.....
April 4, 2009 3:05 PM
HANEY HALL said:
I DID NOT SEE IT YET BUT I WILL TONIGHT AND IM SURE IT WILL BE THE **** FOR SURE
April 4, 2009 7:44 PM
Goldenboy said:
I saw this movie the first nite and it was the **** very good job!
April 4, 2009 11:46 PM
aCtDeltAS said:
This Movie is So F-cking Cool!!!
Justin Lin had a Good Job as Tokyo Drift.
April 5, 2009 7:16 AM
F&F SUCKS !!! said:
This movie sucked. all of them do. these import ricer cars are so ugly. and tacky. AND UGLY. **** imports. forever. the green eclipse in the first movie made me sick to my stomach. all the cars are gay.
April 5, 2009 7:50 AM
phil said:
you idiot bloggers stop spoiling plots of movies. your not critics if you cant explain without giving up the movie. this movie was better than the first by the way
April 5, 2009 8:32 AM
I said:
**** you bitch yea i'm talking to u da one who said f&f sucks. Go suck a **** bitch. Dis movie is da bomb an da cars are sick. So go **** yourself stupid mother ******!!!!!!
April 5, 2009 10:16 AM
hesham yousef said:
this movie will be the good extintion to the fast &furious groub i wait it very very much
thanx
April 5, 2009 10:45 AM
Fan said:
When will dvd release?
April 6, 2009 6:33 AM
Anonymous said:
all of them back together make the real fast & furious.
these 4 stand 4 fast & furious. it can be fast furious without diesel and rodriguez
April 6, 2009 12:37 PM
NOS! said:
this movie was SUPER BEAST!!!!!!!!!!!! this was one of the most beastly of all beast movies i have ever seen!!!!!!! They totally need to make a fifth!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i saw it the nite it came out and all the movies were sold OUT!!!!!!! i love this movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
April 6, 2009 3:36 PM
Thomas (aka NOS!) said:
All i can say is this movie was awesome! Justin Lin did a great job with this film. In my opinion this movie was as good as the first if not better, because it had the AWESOME original cast. This movie was on fire the night it came out!!!!! I will totally support the DVD and the game (if they decide to make one) when they come out! If you are debating weather or not to spend the money to go see it just look at the money it brought in already!!!!! I love this movie!!!! Paul Walker, and Vin Diesel were great together in this film! I can not wait for the fifth! DOM AND BRIAN ARE BEAST!!!!!!
April 7, 2009 12:53 PM
Mandeep said:
relle gooood movie....
Muscle beats Import. Everytime.
April 7, 2009 4:55 PM
6ftDan said:
This review is biased and wrong. I watched the movie twice when it released. And I may watch it every weekend. ... Yeah. It's THAT good.
April 8, 2009 5:25 AM
mohamed said:
فيلم رائع ويستحق المركز الاول
April 17, 2009 1:04 AM
same ol' said:
It's like hollywood has run out of ideas. Please come up with something original.
May 11, 2009 10:53 AM
alex said:
MUCH BETTER THAN TOKYO DRIFT
May 25, 2009 8:37 PM
alex 1 said:
was okay
June 4, 2009 11:19 AM
hiden said:
Just when it seems that cinema has descended yet again into the deep abyss of zero plot combined with tons of special effects performed by pretty boys and pop tarts with no acting abilities whatsoever to disguise the fact that it is trash, something new comes along to uplift the entire sorry state of modern box office film and restore the discerning audience's faith in the true art of the cinema. I attended just such a performance at the 24th August 2005 premiere screening of Gypo in the UK at the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) and found it to be a powerful dramatic piece (the first British one) from the recent Dogme genre of film making
June 13, 2009 2:50 AM
Mitchell Vasallo said:
Better late than never I guess. I meant to go see this film when it first came out. Unfortunately there were other movies more important to me to watch first at the time. Anyways this movie was fantastic. I loved it especially when the tied this movie to tokyo drift as a prequel. The cars, the action, the chicks were unbelievable. My jaw dropped and drooled with anticipation on what's going to happen next. It was a definite thrill ride.
June 16, 2009 12:31 AM
Thomas said:
That in turn raises the question of how the creative ante can be raised in a motorized melodrama such as Fast & Furious. The sky is the limit when it comes to the slow-witted dialogue (Mia to Dom: “Let this post go before it’s too late.” Dom: “It’s already too late.”). As for thematic content, the flick’s ethnic gestures and multiracial shout-outs are window dressing
June 18, 2009 8:07 PM
adam said:
c'est un grand film de action et vitesse .c'est vraiment très superbe .
June 27, 2009 10:55 AM