3:48pm Thursday 9th April 2009
By Mark Foker
I felt like a bit of an imposter attending the preview of number 4 in the series without having seen 1, 2,or 3. Clearly even the media audience I was with were obviously big fans as many whooped and wooed all the way through. All I knew was that it was bound to involve plenty of cars racing, chasing and crashing.
Fast &Furious has reunited the main four stars of the original The Fast and the Furious (wait a minute! Isn’t that the same title?) Dominic Torreto (Vin Diesel) or Dom to his friends, Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker), Mia Torreto (Jordana Brewster) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez)…yes Ana-Lucia from Lost, personally I think they disposed of Ana-Lucia too early from the show.
In F1 The Fast and the Furious (2001) Dom Toretto is a street racer and the leader of a gang accused of hijacking trucks and stealing electronic equipment. LAPD officer Brian O'Conner goes undercover in LA and joins Doms team and also gets involved with Dom’s sister Mia. In FF2, 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) the action moves to Miami and Paul Walker is the only retained member of the main line up. No Vin. For FF3 The Fast and the Furious – Tokyo Drift (2006) come on, keep up! This time there was none of the original cast and there was also a new director Justin Lin, who went on to direct the latest instalment.
FF4 goes back to LA and dips its toe in Mexico. This involves Dom and Brian teaming up under protest and going undercover to bring down a drugs baron. He needs good drivers and fast and furious motors to deliver his merchandise across the border. Brian O’Connor does this because it’s his job as a cop but Dom’s reason is pure revenge. Unfortunately we have all seen the plot before and the script is pretty predictable but the action scenes are very well done, in fact I would have liked to have seen more of the ‘car is the star’ and less of the quiet brooding moments.
Having said all that Vin Diesel gets away with his dignity intact mainly because he’s just so damm cool. This is the type of movie he does best and as with Pitch Black you would trust his character with your life, so we can forgive him making The Pacifier. It’s a shame that Paul Walker is just so wet and has no charisma although he does try his best by keeping a 24hr George Michael stubble.
Fast & Furious was entertaining but also instantly forgettable. Having said that, it has already taken $71 million in the states making it the most any movie has made in April. Just goes to show that the die-hard fans will love it...you know I’m not talking about admirers of Bruce Willi, right?
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