Review of The Fast and the Furious (2001) by Seth S — 01 Nov 2013

The Fast and the Furious is a sleek movie that tries a bit too hard to be "cool." It is the start of one of the longest running series at the moment. Is the movie really excellent in any way? No. The acting is passable at best. Only one of the actions scenes is shot to its full potential. The story works well enough as a mindless action flick, but nothing more. Still, there are qualities here that I like.

The story is of Brian O'Conner, an FBI agent who is investigating a series of hijackings by going undercover with a street gang, led by Dom Toretto. The gangs' conflicts are resolved with late night car races. O'Conner starts to get caught up in the gang, and falls in love with Dom's sister Mia.

Vin Diesel gives a classic Vin Diesel performance. Beater-wearing, line mumbling, overacting, vigorously gear shifting Dom Toretto is at least a very defined character. Diesel does get better in his later portrayals of the character, and he is useable here. I like the character enough so that the bad acting is forgivable. The same can be said for Paul Walker as Brian O'Conner. This isn't his best portrayal of the character, but he is likable enough. He does have some very interesting emotional moments. Michelle Rodriguez plays Dom's girlfriend Letty. She seems to always play these tough characters, but she actually pretty good. Rodriguez along with Jordana Brewster both provide respectable performances as the female leads.

The whole street racing premise is a clever and fresh one. Or at least it was over 10 years ago. It's easy to enjoy and get involved with the races, even if they aren't what you would call smart. I did like the ending highway hijacking scene. That was definitely the most fully realized of the action scenes. I also really enjoyed the finale where Brian finally blows his cover and Mia has to choose between her family and Brian. It provided for an emotionally driven ending in a movie with so much mindless action.

Overall, I applaud the movie for kick starting one of the most successful franchises in the last decade. The movie does definitely have some positive elements, some things that set it apart from the usually action crowd. But it also has some basic filmmaking negatives that cannot be overlooked. Honestly, with everything taken into consideration; I really do like this movie.

"I live my life a quarter mile at a time. Nothing else matters: not the mortgage, not the store, not my team and all their bull****. For those ten seconds or less, I'm free." 6.5/10.