Furious Gears Up for a Fourth Ride
So here’s the deal, for the most part I have not been as overly harsh towards The Fast and the Furious films as I probably should have been. For the most part, I’ve found these silly little throwaway road race action movies to be far easier on the eyes than I’d ever have expected them to be. By and large, while admittedly dumb, familiar and more than a tad cliché, they’re also surprisingly entertaining, and while I’d never say they’re going to last the test of time for later night channel surfing entertainment a person could certainly do one heck of a lot worse.
Paul Walker and Vin Diesel rev it up again in Universal Pictures' Fast & Furious
Ironically, the only entry in the series I don’t care for is the 2001 original. While all of them owe a great deal to Saturday morning cartoons, that Rob Cohen directed first chapter drives me more than a bit nuts. It’s too artificial, too plastic and far too unbelievable. A couple of nifty moments aside (as well as an admittedly cool, laidback performance from then not-a-star Vin Diesel) the movie is more or less a waste, and the fact it ever became a hit in the first place still sort of boggles my mind.
I can’t really pinpoint exactly why I’m more okay with the following films than I am with that one, but if I was forced to guess I would probably say it’s just that I’m not a huge fan of Cohen. The Skulls, Stealth, xXx, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, it isn’t like the guy’s filmography reads like a series of must-see classics. In point of fact, he hasn’t made a single film I would ever want to see again, and every time I see his name attached in the credits I almost can’t help but roll my eyes in dissatisfaction.
The first sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious, was directed by Oscar-nominated director John Singleton, and while it wouldn’t ever be mistaken for a sequel to Boyz N the Hood it had a confident style and a kinetic energy the first one certainly lacked. Part three, Tokyo Drift, was made by Better Luck Tomorrow wunderkind Justin Lin, and while the completely unconnected entry upped the silliness quotient it still had a youthful spark and visual flair I almost couldn’t help but enjoy.
Reuniting original stars Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez, Lin is the first filmmaker to return to the series behind the camera for the inanely titled (yet easy to remember) Fast & Furious and he definitely improves upon his last effort. Heck, I’d go so far as to say he’s actually made the best film in the gosh darn franchise, this fourth chapter arguably the most entertaining start to finish of them all.
Not that it’s remotely original. Writer Chris Morgan (Wanted) has culled the entire Western and Crime-Thriller playbook, pulling all of the most familiar bits and layering them inside a screenplay that’s as familiar as the impenetrable crust concealing three-day-old meatloaf. The story bringing career motorized criminal Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and FBI bad boy Brian O'Conner (Walker) back together is totally hackneyed and ludicrous, suspension of disbelief heading to an entirely different plain of existence.
Yet despite all of that – or maybe because of it – the lone star Gary Cooper meets Kurt Russell swagger mixed with Max Rockatansky motorized insanity of the piece worked for me, Lin handing it all with confident machismo that fits the film perfectly. While I could have done without the very Mario Kart-like road racing through some Mexican mines, most of the rest worked just fine to my way of thinking, and it’s hard for me to imagine people who thrilled to the first aren’t going to be equally giddy walking out of this.
Personally, I loved the opening tanker truck heist, and most (but not all) of the climactic desert showdown is great fun in an amped up George Miller anything goes Mad Max sort of way. I also thought Diesel and Walker don’t sleepwalk through their respective roles, the latter in particular doing a much better job exuding emotional layers here than he ever did in the first one.
Maybe I’m being a pushover, but Fast & Furious worked for me in a stripped-down, high-octane old fashioned B-movie sort of way. The simplest of the four, it’s also the most entertaining. More than that, it’s probably the only one I would freely of my own will watch again, and as much as I’m willing to give the other sequels a pass that’s the one thing I guarantee I’ve never said before.
Film Rating: êê1/2 (out of 4)
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