Director: Rob Cohen
Cast: Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Matt Schulze, Chad Lindberg, Johnny Strong, Rick Yune, Ted Levine, Ja Rule, Noel Gugliemi
With the upcoming ninth instalment set to hit screens on June 25th, I will be reviewing all nine Fast movies (yes, even the spin-off Hobbs & Shaw). So let's get started.
“The Fast and the Furious” was released back in 2001, directed by Rob Cohan and stars Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Matt Schulze, Chad Lindberg, Rick Yune and Johnny Strong with an appearance from rapper Ja Rule. The is basically “Point Break” with cars where you have similar premise but with street racing criminals stealing merchandise from trucks instead of surfer criminals dressing up as the ex-Presidents who rob banks. Walker is in the Keanu Reeves role as an undercover cop infiltrating the gang and earning their respects, and Diesel is the Patrick Swayze character, but the only difference is that he does not get killed at the end.
Paul Walker plays Brian O'Conner, a
hot shot police officer, who goes undercover as a car junkie Brian Spilner to
see if a local street racer/mechanic by the name of Dominic Toretto (Vin
Diseal) has anything to do with hijacking a bunch of cargo from DVD's, TV's,
entertainment sets, and so forth while at the same time falling head over heels
for Dominic's sister Mia (Jordana Brewster). Brian comes so close while at the
same time gaining trust to Dom before he could threaten blow his cover.
The film is quite a brainless piece
of entertainment, its story is predictable, it follows an undercover cop who
starts to sympathize with his targets, and the characters are written
spontaneously to fit the demands of the plot. You gotta love the opening
dialogue: "I like the tuna here," "Nobody likes the tuna
here!" and both the chemistry between Diesel and Walker was good. I know
some people considered Walker as a terrible actor, but he is not, this film
shows that he was passionate about the role and was probably the only actor to
pull it off. I know Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale and Eminem were offered the
role but I can’t see any of them in that role, maybe Wahlberg, but that’s about
it.
Michelle Rodriguez isn’t given much
to do but she does a good job of what she’s given. Jordana Brewster was okay, maybe it was because she was so
young at the time, her character isn’t the best but you can’t dislike her.
But, that isn't why we watch the film. The
Fast and the Furious does have some great car racing scenes and the director
Rob Cohen can shoot the cars and make them look great. What is most appealing
is the physicality of the stunts and the racing; there's no CGI tomfoolery
here, and there is a simplicity about the film that makes it worth watching.
You don't need to suspend your disbelief, the plot doesn't shovel many excuses
for racing into your face. Its not a perfect film but it’s entertaining, even
the last 15 minutes were enjoyable.
Rating: 7/10
No comments:
Post a Comment