Fast & Furious
The first instalment in the Fast & Furious car racing franchise hit theatres in 2001 and was a pivotal launching point in the careers of actors Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Paul Walker, and Jordana Brewster. Each of them received a considerable boost in personal stardom from the car movie and so it wasn't long before the quartet of performers went in search of bigger and better projects. Walker was the only one of the original four to return for the first sequel, since Diesel was busy playing sci-fi action hero Riddick and Rodriguez was busy killing zombies in the Resident Evil series of films.
By the time the third Fast & Furious movie hit theatres in 2006, the story had been stripped down and rebuilt from the ground up to accommodate a completely new set of characters. But even then, Diesel's career was in trouble and so he made a surprise cameo appearance at the end of that movie, hinting at a full return to the franchise. Now, that time has come with the fourth instalment reassembling the original cast for a recycled trip down memory lane.
The fact that each of the four actors tried to abandon the franchise in search of greener pastures, only to return to it eight years after the first movie, is a solid indication of how each of their careers imploded almost as quickly as they took off. It is both sad and pathetic that each of them has had to crawl back to this franchise after trying to convince the world that they possess the ability to stretch beyond its boundaries.
But even with that in mind, returning to the franchise could have been a little less embarrassing if this particular movie were any good. Director Justin Lin gained experience with this material when he helmed the third Fast & Furious movie, which featured almost balletic racing sequences on the streets of Tokyo. Once again, Lin proves to be very capable when it comes to capturing adrenaline-fuelled car races on screen, but he fails to connect the narrative dots in a remotely entertaining way. For every fun racing sequence, there are a dozen dull, uninspired scenes that clumsily release exposition.
While the whole point of the movie is to show cars tearing down city streets and smashing into stuff, there still needs to be a cohesive glue to hold it all together. Fast cars are only mildly engaging when you don't care one bit about the people who are driving them. The sliver of plot on display in Fast & Furious is barely worth mentioning, since it feels like the result of picking clichés out of a hat. This time around, the gang is trying to hunt down a mysterious drug trafficker who is causing no end of problems for the protagonists. Diesel's character wants the villain for personal reasons, while Walker's FBI agent character wants him for professional reasons that involve keeping his job. Other than that, the story is simply a loose framework used to awkwardly support all of those aforementioned racing sequences.
The biggest problem with Fast & Furious is that it reuses the same stale elements that have defined the franchise in such a bland manner. Everything about the movie reeks of laziness and the staunch commitment to formula ensures that any semblance of originality is left on the sidelines. Clearly, the plan with this fourth instalment was to give fans of the franchise the exact same experience that was offered up in the franchise's first outing. The usual parts are all here in predictable fashion. Fast cars? Check. Scantily-clad women? Check. Tough guy dialogue reined in by a PG-13 rating? Check. Each of these familiar pieces serves to make this instalment a carbon copy of past efforts, which allows for a nagging sense of déjà vu throughout the entire movie.
With a fifth Fast & Furious movie already in the works, this franchise is far from over. But based on this sequel, the well of creativity has long since run dry for these movies. It is safe to assume that the next movie will feature much of the same nonsense on display here and will likely bear another limp title. Like the careers of its stars, the Fast & Furious franchise is stuck in neutral. Afraid to take a risk and fully aware that mass movie audiences will fork over cash to see the same thing over and over again, this series of movies isn't about to change anytime soon. The cars will remain fast and the drivers will stay furious and the only difference is that I will care even less.
