The fast and furious franchise is one I regret to say I’ve not explored until very recently; and after watching the first film I can understand the ‘cult-type’ following it has gained over the past 20 years. It’s a far from perfect film, but even the most successful franchises have weaker and stronger films. The film follows Brian (Paul Walker), an FBI agent sent to befriend a group of street racers in a bid to uncover a series of robberies in the LA area. Along the way, he befriends Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), local trend setter among the racing community and somewhat father figure to the racers. It’s Brian’s job to get to the bottom of the burglaries whilst trying not to get attached to the street racers- including Mia (Jordana Brewster), Dominic’s sister who Brian falls for whilst undercover. The film features some brilliant action sequences, including some great racing scenes. The action during these scenes is well choreographed, although during these scenes, it isn’t hard to spot stunt props and other ‘things that aren’t supposed to be seen’ that gives the film a bit of a cheesy effect to it.
One thing that didn’t sit well with me was the final act, it felt really rushed (you could even say too fast and furious) and the story felt really incohesive and loosely stringed together. However, it doesn’t take away from the enjoyability of the film. This is mainly due to the great lead performances given by both Walker and Diesel, and how hateful they were of each other at first to seeing them grow together and become good friends. It feels a little vague as to how they feel about each other (particularly how Dom feels about Brian being a cop) during the final scene- but I have hopes that this is restored and given closure, or expanded on, during future instalments. Overall, the fast and the furious is your average popcorn flick that gives some good action sequences. However, in the end the film felt like it was made in the fast lane instead of slowing down to think once in a while.
