We watched and enjoyed the first three movies in this series, so it was inevitable that we’d watch the fourth one, too. When it came out, some reviews called it a remake of the first one (maybe because of the similarities in title), but it’s not at all. True, all the characters from the original are back, but it’s a completely different story.And while the background from the other movies is touched on, there’s a lot that’s not explained, so if you’ve never seen any of the Fast and Furious movies I wouldn’t recommend starting with this one. For those who have seen them, FAST & FURIOUS once again features FBI agent Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) and crook Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) teaming up to take down the bad guys, in this case the head of a drug cartel. Since all the movies are set in the world of street racing, you know what you’re going to get: lots of chase scenes, spectacular stunts, and beautiful women in skimpy outfits. There’s plenty of that in FAST & FURIOUS. But you also get morally conflicted but stalwart heroes, really evil villains, tragedy, and a little humor.
Much like the UNDERWORLD series, if these movies had been made in the Sixties I think they would have gone straight to the drive-ins. They don’t pretend to be anything other than what they are, slickly-made action/adventure yarns where everyone involved seems to be having a great time. I did, too. I think FAST & FURIOUS is maybe the best entry in the series so far, and if you’ve seen the others, you definitely need to watch this one, too.
6 comments:
Thanks for the review as I was going to give this one a miss as I thought it was the original with deleted scenes added. And that was how the reviews went in the UK.
I'm not sure why so many reviewers made that claim. Sure, the characters are the same, and they do some of the same sorts of things, but that's like saying that RETURN OF THE JEDI is a remake of STAR WARS, or GOLDFINGER is a remake of DR. NO. It just doesn't make sense to me.
Then there is always the 1939 "Fast and Furious" by Busby Berkeley and starring Franchot Tone and Ann Southern. Though it has nothing to do with car chases at all, though there is a beauty contest involved in the plot somehow.
Now I'm trying to imagine Vin Diesel as a hoofer . . .
Isn't The Fast and the Furious also a film by Roger Corman?
Had to check. It's only written by Corman and just one year before he made his directorial debute:
http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0046969/
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