Fast & Furious (D+ or 1.5/4 stars)
2 men rejoin 2 women to drive 2 cars fast & furiously in 'Fast & Furious', directed by Justin Lin. When a crime brings them back together in L.A., fugitive ex-con Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) restarts his feud with FBI agent Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker). Lucky for them, they are forced to confront a shared enemy. Can they put aside their differences from the past to outmaneuver him? Well, I'm not sure why a 4th Fast & Furious film had to be made. Yes, it rejoins the original cast; which is impressive. But this particular movie is short on plot, short on exotic cars, short on sex ... pretty short on everything. Not atrocious, just super boring.
For 8 yrs. Dominic has been holed up in a beach shack in the Dominican Republic; living a restless fugitive life with Leti (Michelle Rodriguez). He knows the authorities will never tire of him. And after a personal tragedy strikes, he is forced to return to Los Angeles for retribution. Sociopathic heroin importer Campos (John Ortiz) is the target. Brian is after him because he's a key witness in a case the FBI is working. And Dom just wants some good old-fashioned revenge. The way in which they infiltrate Campos is pretty entertaining; competing in a high-octane car race for the right to become his main drug driver. Once undercover, Dom & Brian hope to achieve their common goal. But will their past impede their collaboration? Can Mia (Jordana Brewster) ever forgive Brian for abandoning her yrs. ago? From convoy heists to Mexican/U.S. borderline tunnel crawls, 'Fast & Furious' aims to knock us out with nostalgia and big-time action sequences ...
Problem is, after the great 1st 20 minutes, the movie deflates like a balloon. Seriously, there's an opening car/truck stunt that had my heart racing. Afterwards, an unexpected plot twist had my mind going, as well. Then ... any & all energy is sapped from the proceedings. There are a few car chases throughout the film, but nothing compared to the 1st sequence, and most of them are either implausible and/or redundant. How many times can you really watch a car chase? We've seen them a million times in movies; and this film doesn't add much more variety to them. Yeah, the cars are cool. Yes, there are some hot girls standing around them, at times. But after those gratuitous visions disappear, there still has to be an hour and a half of interesting story to think of. It's largely absent, here.
The editing of the car sequences is stellar. How can they not be? And I quite enjoyed the last 5 minutes. Great set-up (even if it ensures a 5th movie to be made). But the overall plot is undemanding (to a fault), and the acting is as wooden as ever. Michelle Rodriguez shows none of the charisma her Ana Lucia had on Lost. Jordana Brewster is very cute, but ineffective as an actress. Paul Walker phones this performance in. And Vin Diesel is the only one who offers ANY kind of substance. His tough-guy machismo is believable; Walkers is not. The original 'The Fast & the Furious' was not a 'great' film, but at least it was fun, frantic, & fresh. The 2 sequels were abominable. And this 4th version falls somewhere in-between. Uninspired.
For 8 yrs. Dominic has been holed up in a beach shack in the Dominican Republic; living a restless fugitive life with Leti (Michelle Rodriguez). He knows the authorities will never tire of him. And after a personal tragedy strikes, he is forced to return to Los Angeles for retribution. Sociopathic heroin importer Campos (John Ortiz) is the target. Brian is after him because he's a key witness in a case the FBI is working. And Dom just wants some good old-fashioned revenge. The way in which they infiltrate Campos is pretty entertaining; competing in a high-octane car race for the right to become his main drug driver. Once undercover, Dom & Brian hope to achieve their common goal. But will their past impede their collaboration? Can Mia (Jordana Brewster) ever forgive Brian for abandoning her yrs. ago? From convoy heists to Mexican/U.S. borderline tunnel crawls, 'Fast & Furious' aims to knock us out with nostalgia and big-time action sequences ...
Problem is, after the great 1st 20 minutes, the movie deflates like a balloon. Seriously, there's an opening car/truck stunt that had my heart racing. Afterwards, an unexpected plot twist had my mind going, as well. Then ... any & all energy is sapped from the proceedings. There are a few car chases throughout the film, but nothing compared to the 1st sequence, and most of them are either implausible and/or redundant. How many times can you really watch a car chase? We've seen them a million times in movies; and this film doesn't add much more variety to them. Yeah, the cars are cool. Yes, there are some hot girls standing around them, at times. But after those gratuitous visions disappear, there still has to be an hour and a half of interesting story to think of. It's largely absent, here.
The editing of the car sequences is stellar. How can they not be? And I quite enjoyed the last 5 minutes. Great set-up (even if it ensures a 5th movie to be made). But the overall plot is undemanding (to a fault), and the acting is as wooden as ever. Michelle Rodriguez shows none of the charisma her Ana Lucia had on Lost. Jordana Brewster is very cute, but ineffective as an actress. Paul Walker phones this performance in. And Vin Diesel is the only one who offers ANY kind of substance. His tough-guy machismo is believable; Walkers is not. The original 'The Fast & the Furious' was not a 'great' film, but at least it was fun, frantic, & fresh. The 2 sequels were abominable. And this 4th version falls somewhere in-between. Uninspired.