THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
An action movie can go either way: They can have some kind of artistic taste or it can just be downright fun. There are few films that are as entertaining as The Fast and the Furious.
PLOT
The 2001 film follows Brian O'Connor an LAPD officer who goes undercover to locate a crew responsible for robbing pickup trucks of their cargo, containing electronic goods. At day, he works at a performance parts store under the last name 'Spilner'. He starts his investigation on a group that owns an auto garage shop and market/cafe, led by Dominic Toretto. He gets in a fight with fellow member Vince when he notices the intimate tension between him and Dom's sister Mia. When Dom intervenes, he bans Brian from the cafe. At night, he competes in an illegal street race with with a modified 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse, hoping to get a lead on the possible heist crew. He bids his car in a race against Dom and two other competitors. He ultimately loses to Toretto when it malfunctions halfway into it. When the race ends, he helps him escape from authorities. They then encounter an asian biker gang led by Johnny Tran, who scolds them for trespassing their territory. He spares their lives only after destroying Brian's car. Because of that, he still owes Dom a '10 second car', a car that can complete a quarter mile run in 10 seconds. When they go to a party at his house, he scolds his group for not looking for him. The following morning, Brian is brought in by his FBI superiors Sergeant Taner (Ted Levine) and Special Agent Bilkins (Thom Barry) who expect information on who's robbing the pickup trucks because if they don't get a name soon, truck drivers will be allowed to arm themselves. After this, Brian donates Dom a Toyota Supra that still has parts in good shape, despite being mostly totaled. They intend to use it for the legal racing event 'Race Wars', where Brian's expected to pay his debt. He gets caught at night by Dom breaking into a garage, but he keeps his cover by saying he's researching vehicles of Race Wars opponents. When they do the same to Tran's garage, Brian believes him responsible for the robberies when spotting electronics. As time progresses, he starts dating Mia with her brother's blessing. He does start bonding with the latter when he shares how he assaulted a man technically responsible for his father's death, resulting in a two year prison sentence. A raid on Tran's house is approved but he is let go when it's confirmed that he purchased the goods legally. For Brian, this means that Dom and his group have been responsible this whole time. At Race Wars, one of Don’s members Jesse wages his father’s car but flees when he loses to Tran. When the antagonist accuses Dom of snitching on him, he gets punched by him, admitting he never did it. At night, Brian notices Mia arguing with Dom before planning to do another robbery. When he leaves with the rest of the group, he reveals his identity to her and convinces her to find them. By morning, they catch up to them and witness Vince & Letty get injured as the heist went awry. Brian blows his cover in front of Dom when calling for Vince to get medical assistance. Just as he gets cared for, Mia and the others leave. Brian finds Dom at his house in an attempt to apprehend him. When Jesse appears and pleads for help, Tran pulls up as well, only to shoot him down. Brian and Dom chase him down along with his cousin Lance (Reggie Lee). When Dom hits Lance with his father’s 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T, Brian shoots Tran down. When he dies from his wounds, he goes after Dom. They have a quarter mile race that results in a draw, but Dom gets hit by a truck. He luckily survived but is gravely injured. However, Brian let’s him leave by giving him his Supra as a payment of his debt. The film ends with O’Conner walking away as Dom drives off.
THOUGHTS
I first saw this film in 2009 and as years progress, this one remains to be a ball. Throughout, I felt nothing but excitement from the races to the chases. And that feeling is exactly what movies are all about. Since there were actual cars used for various stunts, there was easily a bigger sense of realism compared to the later sequels. Another cool thing about it was how between the action, it can also be looked at as an unconventional sports film because there is a strong passion with street racing. With the wrong cast, it would’ve been all cringeworthy but thankfully, the actors we got were able to make it come off more grounded than anticipated. Paul Walker is likable as Brian because he shows him to be someone who has to question his morals when the stakes are high. He grew up wanting to be a man of the law and never really thought of someone's perspective on the opposite side. That changed when he met Dom. During his time undercover, he understood that he never asked for the lifestyle he made and did what he did to survive. He let him go because not for the sake of paying debt, but he felt that he deserved a second chance in life. Enter Vin Diesel, who grew to be the star of the franchise as Dom. We love this character because the actor presented him as one who can be gruff on the outside, but affectionate deep down. Between the life of a criminal, he is a man who deeply loves his family. And because of his religious background, he relies largely on faith he places in people. When Brian got into the picture, he was no exception. For a long time, I never understood what he meant when he said he lives life 'a quarter mile at a time'. Now that I'm older, it finally got to me that he was saying how he lives in the moment. Once that's clear, it does make you appreciate what you have because you'll never know when it's gone. Jordana Brewster makes Mia likable because in this film, she is someone who is in the middle: She doesn't like what her brother does, but she doesn't stop herself from enjoying what she learns, hence the hobby of sports cars. She grew a liking to Brian because unlike her brother’s friends, he was more of a gentleman in comparison. To me, I think Brian's relationship with the Torettos showed me that you don't have to always live life the way people expect, hence a quarter mile at a time. Michelle Rodriguez doesn't have a big arc until the later sequels. But she makes a good impression here because she makes Letty a woman that can hold her own and doesn't tolerate being disrespected, which partially explains why Dom had affection over her for so long. Matt Schultze portrays Vince as the polar opposite, whereas he is mostly filled with anger due to not having any guidance compared to the Torettos. Because of that, he wasn't as trustworthy as he deserved to be. Chad Lindberg made Jesse a tragic figure in this movie. Because of his disability that is ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), he had a hard time with education and that resulted in dropping out. However, he found a second calling through his fond of cars, leading to be under Dom's wing. Sadly, his attempt to be tough like his mentor led to one bad decision that would end his life. Because of his youth, it makes his death much harder to digest. If there is one thing this franchise always has is an underrated villain each entry. Rick Yune was definitely on point making Johnny Tran a formidable opponent in the car and a demanding, short tempered criminal outside. Even though he has territorial boundaries, he won't hesitate to get his hands dirty when he's crossed. This film is pretty cool but I can admit that even a joyride like this had a few problems. First off, why would the inside man tip Dom in the opening while at work? There were so many co-workers nearby and he could've been heard. If he wanted to keep his cover, he should've talked in his truck or office if he had one. Am I the only one who was uncomfortable that Leon (Johnny Strong) was excited for their illegal street race to happen because cops were busy investigating a murder? I know street racing is a passion but that was pretty cold. If anything was weird, one cop recognizes Dom after the race and doesn't question him at his house. Just when you thought Gotham City had bad cops, this one is lazy. The bigger mistake Brian makes other than blowing his cover in the climax is not parking blocks away from Dom's auto garage shop. Had he done that, he would've not been caught by Dom. He kept his cover longer based on luck. And I also found it weird how he didn't even know Dom's phone number when he's hanging out with him long enough to get it. I mean there really is no excuse for it. And lastly, how come the driver from the green truck not check on Dom when he crashed into it in the climax? I don't think he took off since the truck was damaged and h wan't in any train tracks so what stopped him? It would've ruined the moment of Brian letting him go, but it would've worked if we got a glimpse of the guy at least getting out once Dom leaves. Other than that, I still get a kick out of this one. In short, director Rob Cohen succeeded in bringing us a film that is downright fun. If you're into the life of street racing, than this is the film for you.
Opmerkingen