THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Audiences were shocked to see the return of Dominic Toretto in the Fast & Furious spin-off Tokyo Drift. When he said he was close to fellow TD character Han, we had to see if this was true. So in 2009, Universal began a new arc that would take the franchise to bigger heights, for better or worse.
PLOT
The first prequel simply named Fast & Furious, takes place five years after Brian O'Conner allowed him to escape from authorities. While he would regain his position as an FBI agent, the latter continued his criminal lifestyle. The film opens up with him and his wife Leticia 'Letty' Ortiz hijacking fuel tankers in the Dominican Republic with aid of friends Han Seoul-Oh (Sung Kang), Tego Leo (Tego Calderon) and Rico Santos (Don Omar). When he learns that the police are hot on their trail, he disbands his crew and leaves Letty behind in order for her to be safe. Three months later, he gets a call in Panama City from his sister Mia, that the love of his life was murdered in a car crash. When returning to Los Angeles to see the funeral (from a distance), he visits the crash site with his sister. Looking over it, he notices the burn marks on the ground that can be caused by nitromethane. He goes to a mechanic who sells that material and he reveals that David Park (Rom Yuan) bought it for a green 1972 Ford Gran Torino Sport. When he finds Park, he claims that the car is not his and it belongs to someone who works for drug lord Arturo Braga. He almost kills him but Brian intervenes, as he is trying to track down Braga. Park acts as an informant and gives Brian a spot to be involved in a race where the winner gets to be part of a team to traffic drugs for the drug lord across the Mexico-US border. On the night of the race, Dom is able to win only after bumping Brian's car while on nitro, making him lose control. However, he takes a spot after getting another qualifier arrested. At a bar, he notices Ramon Campos, a fellow accomplice to Braga, talking to an older man in a private room, who might be Braga himself. He can't confirm it because there is no official ID on him. As that happens, Dom finds the green Torino but another disciple named Gisele confirms it to belong to Fenix, the right hand man. By morning, Brian has fellow agent Trinh (Liza Lapira) do forensics on two glasses drunken by the two men he saw. The next night, he and Dom do the job and cross the border with the drugs. They meet up with Fenix, but he plans to kill them as ordered by Braga. Dom confronts him about Letty, which he confesses to chasing her down and killed her personally. He detonates his car with nitrous to distract Braga's men and get the jump on his wife's killer. He almost kills him but he chooses to head back to LA with Brian before authorities could arrive. Because he got shot in the back of his shoulder, Mia is called to stitch up his wound. After they have dinner at Brian's home, Dom finds a box of Letty's belongings, including her phone. He turns it on and discovers that she last called Brian before she died. He confronts the latter, leading him to admit that Letty went undercover to take down Braga, in exchange for Dom to be pardoned. The next day, the agent goes to his superiors and makes a deal that if Braga can get lured, Dom gets pardoned. They call Gisele to arrange a meeting that'll involve them meeting Braga in person, in exchange of returning the drugs. The night of the meeting, they meet an older man who claims to be him. But both protagonists don't believe he is who he says he is. Just as that happens, Trinh gets facial recognition that Campos is the real Braga. When the FBI attempt to intercept him, he is able to avoid them and flee to Mexico. Because Mexico is out of FBI's jurisdiction, Brian plans with Dom to bring him back to the US to face justice. Because Dom saved Gisele from being ran over by Fenix, she shares his location to be in a catholic church. When they reach him, Dom agrees to let him live as long as he kills Fenix. They take off as soon as possible but Fenix and other henchmen soon catch up. They follow them to the tunnels that was used to traffic the drugs. Brian passes through first with Braga, but Fenix T-bones him just as they reach the end of the tunnel. Dom is able to destroy the tunnel and kill the following henchmen as he escapes. When he reaches the end, he does extract his revenge and kills Fenix with his car. Braga does get arrested for his crimes. Despite Brian's request of clemency, Dom is instead sentenced to 25 years to life. The film ends with Brian and Mia about to break him out of a prison bus, with the aid of Santos and Leo.
THOUGHTS
I got to see this one in 2011 before the release of the fifth film and I gotta say, I had a good time with this one. With Justin Lin returning to direct, that became a blessing because he brings back the same energy from the very first film, but also raises the bar with it. Seeing how the dose of races and chases come off more intense, you'll definitely be glued to how it goes down. I know it's not realistic for Dom to avoid a crashing tank of fuel, but it's hard to deny how badass it looked. The real reason I get a kick out of this one because of how character driven cast improves with their performances in a big way. This is the official return of Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto, who comes back with a vengeance, like any common protagonist would in his position. We root for him here because due to understanding how much he loved Letty, he blames himself for what happened. Having that in his mindset, he is more impulsive and full of anger, which makes him ignore his moral code of playing dirty in a race. Once he gets all the answers he needs, his morality returns when he spares Braga. Paul Walker is also good as the returning Brian O'Conner because his morals are tested for the last time. While he is satisfied to have his dream career, he wants to set things right between him and the Torettos. He claimed to let Dom go because of how he respected him. And since he hired Letty to go undercover to infiltrate, he also gained regret because even he felt responsible for her. For him, he accepted that his dream wasn't worth chasing when Dom was unable to be pardoned. When he freed him, he felt whole again and accepted that he was a criminal at heart. Jordana Brewster spoke volumes in her return as Mia. She was someone who was left behind by her loved ones without saying goodbye, as she tended to a dying Jesse. That moment broke her deep down and it was hard to forgive. She wouldn't be able to do so had not Dom and Brian. She forgave Dom because she knew he had to leave. And for Brian, she went back to him because she accepted that he never wanted to hurt her. She joined Brian to free her brother because even she knew he didn't deserve it. At that moment, she finally embraced his lifestyle. The bond Brian has with the Torettos here taught me that you'll never know what your calling is until you believe it's what you want. Michelle Rodriguez portrays Letty as another tragic figure because her last actions were being a loving wife by attempting to bring her husband home. You respect that because she knew she didn't want to be a criminal and she became the only person besides Mia to confront Dom about it. Because of her good intentions, this sadly cost her a hefty price. Going into the new characters, John Ortiz was a solid villain as Braga because he was the most deceptive. He posed as a henchman to untouchable to whoever works for him. He is basically until he's caught because everyone is looking for him but he's right in front of them. Pulling that off makes him smarter than others think. Laz Alonso is on point making Fenix plain bad who is loyal to his boss to the point which hesitance doesn't exist in his mind. Especially when it comes to killing. When he admits to killing Letty and not showing sympathy, you know you're gonna hate him forever. The only new character we get to enjoy is one that sticks around a little longer, that is Gisele. Thanks to a breakout performance by Gal Gadot, she is likable because she is as firm as the men around her and isn't afraid of whatever decisions she makes. Proof, she wasn't afraid to give Braga away, whether or not he would come for her. I enjoyed this film more than I should, but even a fan like myself can admit that it had some problems. First off, it was a pretty crazy chase Brian has in the opening, but shouldn’t his perpetrator be dead after being tackled on top of a vehicle from a rooftop? I know this franchise bends reality a whole lot, but they should at least realistic on smaller moments like this. God it was such a cringe seeing agent Stasiak (Shea Wingham) not scout the entire cemetery to see if Dom was there, which he was from a distance. We know Brian wouldn’t do it, but it’s so stupid that his colleague doesn’t even try. While it’s forced of a moment for Dom to figure out the burn marks from the crime scene because it comes off obvious that Letty’s death wasn’t investigated, resulting in Brian taking a while to figure it out. The real problem is that only one person was selling nitromethane. I honestly don’t buy that because street racing is always popular and there always has to be secondary sources of product sold elsewhere if a go-to place is sold out. I can’t be the only one confused on how Brian took Braga’s glass without being seen. We know Brian is a smart and stealth guy, but it’s odd we don’t see how that went down. Also, why didn’t Dom kill Fenix after he blew up his car? Brian aided him by shooting down other henchmen. There were plenty of guns, so it’s pretty pointless on how went through all of that just to not get revenge yet. Also, how the hell did not one agent shoot at Fenix’s car? I know things went awry, but it’s not like they were anymore busy when Braga left first. And lastly, If I’m calling bullshit again on realism, I’m definitely losing it that Dom and Brian have souped up cars yet get caught up by cars that aren’t. I mean that’s just a lazy way to keep tension going for the climax. Ignore all of this, than you’ll still be having a good time. I’m short, Fast & Furious is another hit for the franchise for luring is to an arc that is at the first step of us surprising us. If you love cars or just this franchise, join the party because this movie is worth the time.
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