The Fast and the Furious

-Story-

The fast and The Furious isn't what one might call a thinking film. It's simple, it's action, and for the most part it's really fun. The story follows a young LA undercover cop, and how he gets himself involved in the exciting and dangerous world of underground street racing. He's playing it cool, trying to uncover a ring of thieves, but gets more than he bargained for in Dominic Toretto, a sort of boss, and racing legend in this world. Now I know that this kind of street racing really happens, I've met and talked with a few people who participate in this sort of thing over the years. And although I'm sure it's exciting, I highly doubt it's really like what is portrayed here. Then again, this movie doesn't overly concern itself with realism, and it doesn't need to. This is a fun film, not a good one. It's a vehicle (if you'll pardon the bad pun) for action, not good story. Good for what it is; but that's not saying too much.

This film is really all about how it looks, the story is really secondary to a fairly successful attempt to be a straightforward cool film. And the action is good. There's cool racing, even good CG stuff. Guns, drugs, partying, beautiful people, and high adrenaline extreme activities. Basically, this film lives up to what it is trying for. Good stunts, a killer soundtrack, and nice tension.

Of course this isn't a film that relies too much on it's acting abilities, which is good, because besides some fairly entertaining moments with Vin Disel, playing Toretto, the acting is appallingly bad. Then again no one ever said even Vin Disel was a really good actor. The young cop is played by Paul Walker, who seems to have some sort of following, but I haven't seen anything else with him. He is adequate, not good, but ok. At least he's very pretty. That is really the most important part of the casting for a film like this.

This film was made by Rob Cohen, a director that I've been closely watching for a while now. This was his second film with Vin Disel, and the two pretty much helped each other get legitimately famous. He's also done Pitch Black, XXX, and is working on Alexander the Great (not the DiCaprio one). Anyhow, I've gotta say I like this guy. His films are good, not great, but very solid action films, with interesting twists. He knows how to use Vin to his potential, as well as music, and shoots very decent fight scenes. I know this film isn't awards quality or anything, but it's a solid piece of work, and I'd be willing to bet Cohen has made a tidy return on everything he's directed. So really, pretty good work.

This is a fun action film, with pretty people doing dangerous things. What more do you want?