Fast and Furious

Movie Grade: C

Fast and Furious goes by in a high-octane, wheel-spinning, neon-colored blur. The entire movie amounts to one big, busy distraction"”and in essence, that's its biggest draw. It never promises to be anything more than a flashy race towards the end credits, and that's why the franchise has stayed potent after eight years. People want mindless fun. They want cool guys in muscle tees, hot girls in skimpy clothes, fast cars and shootouts. (I'm generalizing, of course.) And that's what Fast and Furious provides, albeit not much else.

What you see is what you get in the 4th installment of the series, which reunites the four original cast members"”Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez"”for the first time since 2001's The Fast and the Furious. In case your memory needs refreshing, Diesel plays Dominic Toretto, car-racing criminal, and Walker plays his frenemy, a speed-loving cop named Brian O'Connor. Letty is Dom's ride-or-die chick, and Mia is Dom's cute, upstanding sister who had a thing with Brian. In the end of that first flick, Brian lets Dom escape to Mexico. Then came 2003's 2 Fast 2 Furious, which featured Brian in Miami, but no Dom (Diesel opted out of this one, presumably to hone his "serious" acting skills.) In 2006, the franchise globe-trotted to Japan for The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, in which Diesel graced viewers with a cameo appearance. Now it seems we've come to that final lap (God willing).

The film revs up with a truly absurd opening sequence. Dom, Letty and cohorts hatch a preposterous scheme to hijack a double-barrel gas truck in the Dominican Republic. Things end in a fiery mess which of course leaves Dom unscathed. However, after this botched highway robbery, the jig is up for Dom in the Dominican and he returns to L.A. looking for a fresh start. Brian also just happens to be back in L.A., helping the FBI track down a drug kingpin named Braga who"”like our two main boys"”has a penchant for fast cars. Despite their conflicting interests and complicated past, Dom and Brian team up to take down Braga's organization. Dom has his own reasons, which you'll see in a Bourne Supremacy-like twist. This twist also allows Diesel to try out some moments of solitary, stoic emotion. But Diesel doesn't do emotion, so what we get is a lot of frowning, squinting and jaw-clenching. It's hard not to wonder what his motivation was. He ran out of clean white muscle tees? They cancelled his gym membership? Honestly, the cars have more screen presence.

The script is lazy, kind of like whoever came up with the movie's title. (Dropping the "the's" must have been real tough work. Kudos on the creativity.) The one-liners are god-awful. We've all heard Diesel's line in the trailer by now: "I appreciate a fine

But to be fair, this is not a film about "acting" or "dialogue." It's about car races and chases and pretty faces. Backed by a pulsing score, the street-racing is pretty exhilarating. When Dom and Brian and a few other wannabe racers (including the guy who played Alpa Chino in Tropic Thunder!) gear up to race through the streets of L.A. for a spot on Braga's team, the effect is all screeches and jump cuts. Perfect for the short attention span. There are also two races that take place in the underground tunnels straddling the Mexican border which are meant to be innovative but end up being somewhat visually constricting.

You can see the ending coming from a mile away"”must be those glaring headlights. But if you go in with the objective of taking Fast and Furious for what it is and going along for the ride, then you just might, kinda, sorta, in the slightest possible way, be able to enjoy it.

Movie Grade: C

Synopsis:

The feud between ex-con Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and agent Brian O’Connor (Walker) is reignited back in Los Angeles, where a crime has pitted the two men against one another yet again. However, when they realize they have a common enemy, they put their past behind them and unite to stick it to their foe.