I remember when The Fast and the Furious came out in 2001 and became a smash hit. The movie put Vin Diesel in to the spotlight and Paul Walker for that matter. Now in 2009, the two “the” have been dropped and Justin Lin (director of F&F: Tokyo Drift) tries to recapture some of the magic from the original. It was a good try, but it never reaches that level.
The story brings Dom and Brian and the rest of the gang back together again. Due to a murder, Dom and Brian begin looking for the person who did it while reigniting their own feud as well. Now officially this story is before the story in Tokyo Drift. This will make sense once you see the movie or if you already have.
Now the story is shallow because this franchise tells stories by using the cars not the characters. So, there is some outrageous chase scenes and stunts with cars. They all must have them because that is why the audience is entertained by this franchise. It delivers on action and gives car-fanatics heart attacks. Fast and Furious is what you see is what you get. It is very straight forward on what it is trying to accomplish.
Now it is nice to see the original cast back together. Now I’m not sure if that is a good sign or not, but it sparks interest in seeing this movie. Besides having the original cast back, there is not much else that can be retraced back to the original. It’s tough to get back there because when the first one came out it was something new and fresh. Sure it wasn’t a deep, emotional movie but it’s not suppose to be.
However, as this marks the fourth movie made of this franchise, people know what to expect. The audience knows what they’re paying for. And people will get their money’s worth, but don’t expect this one to take you back to where it all began in 2001.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
Check out the SoBros Shop. Become a Patron. Give us money for no reason. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Watch on YouTube.
