Fast and Furious

Directed by: Justin Lin

Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez

Synopsis:

Fast and Furious sees Dominic Toretto (Diesel) return to LA to discover who murdered his girlfriend, Letty (Rodriguez). Meanwhile, Brian O’Connor, back with the FBI, is trying to track down the shadowy drug kingpin known only as Braga. Eventually, Brian and Dom cross paths as they work their way into Braga’s organisation and form an uneasy truce.



Review:

Although I’m no petrol-head, I’ve mostly enjoyed the Fast and Furious series – they’re brash, exciting no-brainers with some decent characterisation. Also, some considerable thought has gone into making the continuity of the series work. For example, I enjoyed the extra scenes added to the second movie for the DVD release, showing Brian O'Connor drifting across America, eventually arriving in Miami. I also enjoyed seeing Diesel's Toretto turn up at the end of Tokyo Drift. At the beginning of this movie we see Han(Sung Kang)as part of Dom’s group of crazy crooks stealing half a million dollars worth of tanker fuel. This means that this movie – at least the start of it – slots between the second and third.

Paul Walker has lost the annoying cockiness from the first couple of movies. He’s still conflicted inside as to his true nature. Undercover work – especially his job in the first movie – has left some deep psychological issues. At one point Mia (Brewster) asks him if he ever considers whether he’s the good guy pretending to be bad, or the badguy pretending to be good, to which he answers “every day”. This dual nature of his is certainly reflected in his police work and his conduct with some of his colleagues.

Vin Diesel is still as cool as ice in this movie. He has a number of good character moments, none more poignant than a conversation he has with the gorgeous Gisele (Gal Gadot), who works for Braga and asks him what he likes in a woman...and instead of describing her qualities, he describes Letty’s. Vin also stays true to the character he established in the original movie.

Justin Lin did a fine job directing Tokyo Drift so it’s no surprise seeing him return to the director’s chair for Fast and Furious. The action is very well handled with some nice camera angles. There is a point during the opening sequence when the camera flies above the speeding tanker truck to show it reaching the apex of a hill – then glides even higher to show the very steep drop on the other side. It’s very similar to being on a rollercoaster as it reaches that first incline. Another standout is the introduction of O’Connor to the story, as he gets involved in an exciting foot-chase.

There are some nice twists to the story, including the true identity of Braga and as to why Letty had gotten involved with Braga – that one in particular delivers the movie’s most dramatic punch. The story overall remains a boys-own adventure fantasy and relatively clean fun. There are some objectionable moments – a key motif of these sort of action movies these days (maybe it’s just Justin Lin!) is to include gratuitous shots of cute girls kissing each other, for no other reason than titillation for the adolescents in the audience. Another moment sees Toretto get shot in the shoulder, only to shrug it off with a grimace and it takes a number of hours within the story before he gets it seen to.

The “car porn” has been toned way down for Fast and Furious, which I think is a good move narratively. It’s not as if O’Connor or Toretto are new to the scene and we’re witnessing everything through their jaded eyes. There is a sequence early on where O’Connor mixes and matches three impounded cars for their best parts, and Dom puts together his old muscle car, but that’s about it.

Verdict:

A nice addition to a decent action series, Fast and Furious sits nicely just behind the original’s pole position. If there is a future instalment planned, then hopefully it’ll remain faithful to the ending of this movie and partner Toretto with Sean Boswell (Lucas Black’s character in Tokyo Drift).

7 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)