IMDb

Sally
Apart from a really cool opening sequence involving hijacking oil tankers at super fast speeds, Fast & Furious is pretty boring. In fact, I’m writing this review several days after watching the movie, and needed to read a plot synopsis to refresh my memory. I only remembered the beginning, which is something you don’t want in a movie.

One positive thing I can say about F&F is that it reunites the original cast. The second and third installments (which we don’t own and don’t plan on purchasing) had entirely new casts. From what I remember of their trailers, neither felt like a real sequel to the first. This one at least brings back Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, and company and continues the original story, even if it is boring.

I don’t really know what else to say, actually. This was just not an engaging movie. The highlight happens within the first 10 minutes, and from there it putters along, tossing in some drug trafficking and death between car races and the Diesel/Walker bromance.

Rating: D-

Ben
This is going to be really weird on the blog when we review the first Fast and the Furious film, but then skip straight to number 4. The short answer for this is that number two and three in this series sucked. I was really only interested in the stories that focused on Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) and Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel). The second and third films in The Fast and Furious series did not focus on this relationship, Walker only appeared in number two and while Diesel appeared in three, it was nothing more than a cameo at the very end of the film. As with the first film, I purchased Fast and Furious after loving Fast Five. I wanted to see what led to the events in Five. Unfortunately, this film barely tells me anything. I found it even more of a generic film than the original. The only thing this film has going for it is the chemistry of the leads, who are very comfortable with each other by now.

This film picks up with Dom up to his old tricks, hijacking fuel trucks in the Dominican Republic with his lover, Letty (Michelle Rodruguez) and third movie holdover Han (Sung Kang). After they go their separate ways, Dom receives news that Letty was murdered on the streets of Los Angeles. He is out for revenge and teams up with undercover FBI Agent Brian O’Connor (Walker) to bring down the Mexican heroin dealer responsible. The dealer hires drivers to peddle his product across the US border, giving them souped up cars so they can avoid the authorities. O’Connor once again finds himself seduced by the world of fast cars and rekindles his relationship with Dom’s sister, Mia (Jordana Brewster). Dom is out for revenge, but must work with Brian if they hope to stop this drug dealer. This leads to an interesting dynamic between the two, this is the first time each knows who the other really is and are outwardly distrustful of each other.

I found this film even more boring than the first film. It is almost a rehash of the original movie, except there is no revelation that O’Connor is an undercover agent because Dom already knows. There is nothing new here, it only has fast cars and loud noises. The chemistry between Diesel and Walker is great in what have become their signature roles, but it is not enough to make this film entertaining. There is plenty of production value, but the story just leaves me wanting more. Thankfully, this film made bank at the box office, because it meant they were able to make a fifth film. The fifth film in this franchise is one of the best action flicks I’ve seen in recent times. So, in some ways, I’m glad this film exists. Without the crappy fourth film, we don’t get the ridiculously awesome fifth one.

Rating: D+