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The Fast and the Furious (Widescreen Tricked Out Edition) Customer Reviews (58 - 59 of 59 Reviews)

4 Cylinders and a Dream
I was tempted to give this 5 stars because I've rarely seen horrible done so well. This movie's effect had taken hold even before I saw it: I kept wondering why teens in cheap, brightly colored 4-cylinder cars were winding the engines out of what amounts to a fuel-efficient riding-mower with a car body placed on top.

Then I found out.

A movie was out that showed small brightly-colored cars going really fast but, in the movie, they had big engines in them...and "Noz". Apparently, the redneck striplings whizzing by don't think anyone else can tell the difference between the cars in the movie and their moms Honda. I'll bet mechanics the world over are thrilled about this movie and the resulting boon in re-built engines, thrown rods & body-work that they've reaped.

Vin Diesel was perfect for this part in that he looks as dumb as he really is and saves us the tragedy of an actor of real talent being debased in a movie of this caliber.

If you liked this, let me recommend something else on your level: "Coyote Ugly". This combination may be the ultimate double-feature for today's aesthetically-challenged. Dig in and space out!

Stupefyingly dull.
In The Fast and the Furious, Paul Walker stars as an undercover cop who's seduced by the underground world of drag racing. Vin Diesel is the head of one particular gang that get their kicks from stealing DVD players off trucks, preferring to do so while the truck is moving at high speeds, perhaps for the sheer thrill of it (and spending countless money on NOS, no less). That's just one of the movie's many idiocies, which would be forgivable if the movie was consistently entertaining. It's not.

What's most surprising about the film is its lack of action. Aside from a couple of chase scenes near the end (more on those later), we mostly see Walker getting accustomed to this illegal lifestyle. In the hands of a first-rate actor, this might be compelling. In Walker's hands, it's flat-out dull. He's the movie's protagonist, and he's as boring as they come (to be fair, though, Walker did improve his acting skills in Joy Ride). He's not the only poor performer here. Even worse than him are the likes of Matt Schulze and Michelle Rodriguez, both of whom look like they'd be more comfortable posing for a magazine than enunciating dialogue.

Faring much better than the rest of the cast is Vin Diesel, whose deep, hypnotic voice is enough to compel alone. Otherwise, he's at least a decent actor, capable of displaying a wider range of emotions than anyone else here, though he's certainly not aided by the giggle-inducing dialogue ("You break her heart, I break your neck"). Playing his sister is Jordana Brewster, a real cutie whose only purpose is to play Walker's love interest and be the instigator for his "internal conflict." The role might have been more interesting with some nudity, but alas, it was not to happen.

The story can be summed up as Point Break with cars, which might sound cool, but then again, I didn't much care for Point Break in the first place. So I suppose what matters here is the action, and for whatever lack of it we get in quantity, at least the quality is above average. There's a thrilling sequence that will remind a lot of viewers of the climax of The Road Warrior, if nowhere near as exhilarating. The stunts are impressive, but hardly anything we wouldn't otherwise see in any dozen summer blockbusters. So while the finale is reasonably fun, it's too little too late by then. For truly thrilling, mindlessly enjoyable car chase mayhem, watch The Road Warrior or (for more recent-minded viewers) The Transporter instead.

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