Fast and Furious Movie Review

Fast and Furious. It’s faster and furiouser than ever before. Well, not really, but that’s the kind of intensely creative dialogue that you should be expecting from this fourth installment in the Fast and Furious franchise. Don’t expect anything close to sophisticated rhetoric and mind-twisting conundrums, because that’s not how Dominic Toretto and Brian O’Conner roll.

Not to be confused with The Fast and the Furious (which was the first movie in the franchise), Fast and Furious (2009) takes place some time between the second and third films. Here, we find our heroes caught up in a drug cartel that is using the street racing scene to find the best drivers on the planet. They need these drivers to act as mules, delivering their product across the Mexican-US border.

As you may suspect, Fast and Furious offers a little bit of automotive eye candy for all the “enthusiasts” in the audience. While our friend Paul Walker is driving an R34 Skyline GT-R (the AWD Godzilla that precedes with the current Nissan GT-R), it seems that this flick has more of a focus on American muscle. Vin Diesel’s Toretto, for instance, finds himself behind the wheel of a Chevelle.

Though Fast and Furious is a movie that is clearly playing up its street racing heritage, I found the car eye candy to be a little lacking compared to previous outings. Yes, we catch a glimpse at a Honda NSX and a Nissan Silvia, but there might be more for you to see at your local auto show instead. Also, there isn’t all that much street racing for a street racing movie. I’m not encouraging or condoning these kinds of races in real life, but this is fiction. Let it rip. That’s why we came here.

The one street race through the streets of Los Angeles is pretty thrilling. Unlike some of the previous races where the roads were closed off, this race has no roadblocks whatsoever. The four drivers, who are racing for a spot on the drug cartel’s team, rip through the busy LA streets with absolutely reckless abandon. While we don’t get Ja Rule screaming out to Monica, we do get a nod to the original when Brian engages his NOS, saying that Dom hit his NOS “too early.”

The Fast and Furious franchise is built on memorable lines that are cheesier than Velveeta. I know that Dot Com Pho member Ed Lau can pretty well recite the first movie from memory. Nobody likes the tuna here. You almost had me? You never had me – you never had your car… Granny shiftin’ not double clutchin’ like you should. But I digress.

Even though I listed Fast and Furious as one of the more highly anticipated epic blockbusters to come out this year, I can’t say that I was terribly impressed. At the same time, I can’t say I was overly disappointed either. If you’re willing to suspend your disbelief and you got a kick out of the other movies from the series, Fast and Furious will provide a good night of entertainment. If you’re looking for lots of hot cars, hot girls, and a deeply involving storyline, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

The scary thing? A fifth Fast and Furious movie is already in development. It’ll be the fastest and furiousest one ever! Now if only I could find my two bottles of NOS. I do need them by tonight, after all.