In 2001, "The Fast and the Furious" became a surprise hit with both audiences and critics. The success of the original movie spawned forgettable sequels "2 Fast 2 Furious" (2003) and "The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift" (2006). Now, the franchise that brought the hip, illegal world of street racing to the silver screen is back. "Fast & Furious," while capturing some of the magic that made the first movie a success, ultimately lacks the execution of a top-flight film.
The fourth installment of the series begins right where the first movie left off. Dominic Toretto (played by Vin Diesel), on the run from the F.B.I., finds himself in the Dominican Republic. After being tipped off that the Feds are closing in, he leaves without telling anyone, including his girlfriend, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez). Meanwhile, the laid-back Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) finds his way into the F.B.I. and pursues a ruthless drug dealer named Arturo Braga (John Ortiz).
The two separate story lines meld as Toretto, on a new quest for revenge, begins to pursue the same drug dealer as O'Connor. O'Connor reunites with his ex-lover, Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster), who also happens to be Toretto's little sister. Throw in some cool car chase sequences, a few plot twists, some attractive women and a couple one-liners, and that's the basic gist of the movie.
The film's acting is terrible across the board. None of the headlining actors give noteworthy performances. Diesel plays tough-guy Toretto with a sensitive side in between the action segments, but he never hits his stride.
Walker plays O'Connor with a bit too much surfer dude and tends to deliver lines as if he were reading cue cards. Despite their poor performances, however, Walker and Diesel do have solid chemistry.
Where the male cast members are boring and stiff, the female leads are much worse. Rodriguez's performance captures the definition of overacting, and while Brewster may be easy on the eyes, her acting is often painful to watch. Israeli supermodel Gal Gadot somehow landed a supporting role in the film, but unless she spends some serious time in acting classes, she should reconsider this career switch immediately.
Director Justin Lin, who also directed "Tokyo Drift" does a better job than the actors. The car chases shine except for the opening scene with its blatant use of CGI. Lin gives his audience exactly what it wants to see, which in this case is lots of action, and only the bare minimum exposition needed for the story to make a full arc. The film jumps from place to place too often, but Lin does his best to make it coherent.
That said, the ambition of "Fast & Furious" holds it back tremendously. The first part of the series worked because it had a smart script with developed characters and a focused plot. The action moves so quickly in this latest film that only Toretto's character develops, and the plot brings in drug dealers and middlemen that get in the way instead of making the story more interesting. The original movie was focused, taking place only in California. This film, on the other hand, jumps from the Dominican Republic to L.A. to Mexico. The myriad locale changes simply distract the viewer instead of giving the movie an exotic feeling.
Despite its many flaws, the film is still fun to watch. It may be one of the best "bad" movies released in recent memory. The car chases, hot bodies, anti-heroes and laughable plot combine to make a true escape from reality. "Fast & Furious" tries hard and fails a lot but is stronger, and more fun, than the typical disposable action flick.
