Online Only: Fast and Furious Review

By Faheem Ahmed     4/16/09 7:00pm

Fast and Furious is the fourth film in this redundant franchise about car racing and stealing. I don't know what marketing genius came up with this horrendous title, but I'm sure they saved a lot of money on all the unsold toy cars and merchandise collecting dust in a warehouse. Who is going to notice a couple of measly "the"'s missing?Just like they recycled the title, director Justin Lin (The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift) and screenwriter Chris Morgan pretty much recycled the entire plot from the franchise's opening salvo. The film reunites the original four characters: the 'roided-out muscle-head Vin Diesel (Babylon A.D.), washed-up boy scout Paul Walker (Flags of Our Fathers), Michelle Rodriguez (S.W.A.T.), and hottie Jordana Brewster (Chuck). Heading back to the gritty streets of L.A., excon Diesel and agent Walker must put their former feud behind them when confronted with a mutual enemy, a drug lord named Braga. They have to depend on this new and uncertain relationship in order to take down the drug lord.

The movie has its entertaining moments. The opening 20-minute prologue takes place directly after the events of the first film and follows Diesel and Rodriguez on the run in the Dominican Republic. The sequence, where they use hot rod cars to rob a gigantic oil tanker, was actually directed by Diesel and was by far the most exciting part of the movie.

After this promising opening, however, the actual plot starts setting in and that's where the movie falters. We've already seen Diesel and Walker butt heads before, we've already seen exotic cars race across the desert and we've already seen scantily clad super models prance around ... although I guess I didn't really mind that part.

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From an individual who appreciates a wide range of cinema, Fast and Furious is simply a film that should never have been made. Hollywood is quickly running out of originality and creativity, because it seems as if every other movie is either a sequel or adapted from a book. From a marketing perspective, however, this film has had a fervent fan base over the past decade. Why stop chugging out easily-scripted movies when audience members are filling in the seats?

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