Review of Fast & Furious (2009) by Dylan D — 17 May 2015

Franchise fatigue, an unoriginal story, and the absence of any strong emotional core are but a few of Fast & Furious' shortcomings that, all tallied together, make for one of the year's most disappointing pictures.

It's clearly the latter -- the lack of an emotional core -- that's the primary culprit. The Fast and the Furious is an otherwise lackluster picture saved by its strong characterization and good story that together engender a sense of danger during the racing scenes and compassion for the characters and their plights.

Fast & Furious, however, delivers neither, and the result is a film that feels vapid. Its loud soundtrack, special effects, and the reunification of the original film's primary cast can only go so far in masking the plot's shortcomings, and it takes precious little time to figure out that Fast & Furious is but a shallow copycat of the first two films, stealing the plot from 2 Fast 2 Furious and leaving all the small details that made The Fast and the Furious a success tucked away in the garage.