Rated PG-13 for for intense sequences of violence and action, some sexual content, language and drug references.
107 Minutes

Directed By: Justin Lin
Written By: Chris Morgan
Staring: Vin Diesal, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Jon Ortiz, Gal Gabot, Sung Kang, and Laz Alonzo

Just like old times. -Dom

Synopsis

As he is released from prison, Brian O’Conner teams up with Dominic Toretto work with the feds to bring down a heroin importer by infiltrating his operation.

Review

When preparing to view a fourth installment of a film series that has suffered an obvious case of the sequels, Fast and Furious left me with small, if any expectations, other than some cool chase scenes and sardonic VinDiesal one liners.  Instead, it burst onto the screen with an opening sequence that can go down as one of the most exciting car chase/action sequences in the last decade, and from then on it continued it’s merciless path of action, fun, and relentless entertainment.  Fast and Furious was somehow the best of the four movies in the series.

The film begins with Dom Toretto continuing his life as an essential “bad guy” somewhere south of the border.  When the heat gets too hot, he abandons his team and long time girlfriend to lead a quiet life somewhere in Middle America.  When he gets a call that a tragedy has occurred he returns to the states with vengeance in mind.  Brian O’Connor is still busy working for the FEDS and a case he’s working on that involves a massive heroin importer has the two former friends and foes crossing paths once again.  Together, they separately infiltrate the organization to meet their contrasting goals.

The story in this sequel was plausible enough, and there were constant throwbacks to the films prior to this that made everything tie together as realistically as a movie of this nature can be.  While the story did acknowledge the past, it was an action packed euphoria of new and exciting character dynamics and events to triumph over.

The soundtrack was a huge contributor.  The ethnic hip hop was just as exotic as the cars the cast was driving.  It was a perfect marriage of high octane car action meshed with a musical beat that only extenuated the alreadyadrenaline pumping theme the film pumped out.  The shots were quick and the plot high paced, and the entire film was an never ending sling shot from shot one to the final scene.

One of the upgrades from the original film was not having Paul Walker and the cast throw the term, “NOS” in every sentence possible just for the sake of sounding cool.  The “NOS” wassubtly added into the film, but the concept was not shoved down your throat this time around.  The relationship between Brian and Mia was reintroduced, and as in the first film I never really felt the connection between the two, which left the relationships tension pretty dry, but it played as more a back round theme rather than a potent part of the plot this time around.

There is a street race that both Dom and Brian compete in.  Muscle Car vs. Import, and it was truly one of the most enjoyable car onscreen races I can remember seeing short of the Shelby with Nic Cage in Gone In 60 Seconds, and that is about even with it.  The use of the GPS gave the race a video game quality that integrated perfectly with the excitement of live action, and racing adrenaline.  The close-up shots of Paul Walker and Vin Diesal gave their cars almost their own personality.  The cars were stars in their own right.  It was pure cinematic pleasure.

Vin Diesal and Paul Walker slipped easily back into their roles as the bad guy, and the federal officer who is actually kind of a bad guy.  What was so enjoyable was watching such two likable actors, that sometimes chose the wrong roles for themselves slip so easily back into roles that are perfect for each of them.  This proves if the right roles come around Walker andDiesal have the ability to be superstars.  This was the closest to a buddy action flick in awhile, and it was even more fun that the buddies were the essential bad guys.

Fast and Furious rocked.  It took all the good out of the first movie and made it better.  It’s so rare for a sequel to improve on the original, let alone a fourth installment, but this film has achieved that.  It’s superficial action fun to the highest power of enjoyment and entertainment.  People need a good and simple action movie that has intriguing character’s, a smart yet decisive plot, and original action sequences.  I’m dumbfounded, but completely sold on this movie.  Fast and Furious was a great spring opening to what is hopefully a lot more fun spring/summer flicks.

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