Cool cars, cool car races, gang-ish stuff (I think?), and skimpily clothed women? What more could you want from a movie? The only thing that I think would make The Fast and the Furious more awesome was if the cars were Transformers. That’d be the best movie on the face of the planet.
This movie is in many ways very dated in the year it was made. It reeks of 2001. The dialogue, the outfits, the technology, the cars, much of the cinematography, and a lot more elements make this movie feel very distant by today’s standards. But then again, Godzilla VS Monster Zero is disgustingly dated in 1965, and I still love that movie. But do I like The Fast and the Furious?
Yes I do. I might not love it, but I think it’s pretty decent. Its got its flaws, sure, but it’s still an okay movie.
The story is one of the weaker parts. It’s about an undercover cop, Brian O’connor, played by Paul Walker, who’s trying to catch the criminals behind a series of semi truck robberies. Vin Diesel is in charge of a street racing team that Brian thinks could be the criminals, and he gets involved with their problems while trying to bust them. It could have been a much more interesting plot if it focused a bit more. Just a little more focus would have gone a long way. Thankfully, this movie makes up for some of the weak plot elements with its racing scenes.
The cinematography is pretty cool for its time. The racing scenes are extremely fun to watch. These cars may not look as cool today, but they sure do go fast. The racing cars are 'tricked out' with nitro boosters and engines and stuff that make them go faster… and I really don’t know jack $hit about cars. I couldn’t tell you what was what if I opened the hood. The good thing about this movie is that you don’t need to be a car expert. As long as you know that cars go ‘vroom’, you’ll be fine.
The races are fun, but the most intense scene of the movie isn’t a race. It’s when Vin Diesel’s team is getting screwed over while robbing a semi truck. That was a great action sequence. But action alone isn’t always enough to save a movie when the story is weak. For The Fast and the Furious, it’s the characters that end up being the big savior.
The characters aren’t that deep, and the acting isn’t fantastic, but for the kind of movie that it is, the actors do a decent job. They make their characters fun. I do feel like Vin Diesel was underused, though. Paul Walker did alright for his big break, and I can only see him getting better as these movies go on. If you didn’t know, Walker died in 2013 during the filming of the 7th installment of the Fast and Furious franchise. It wasn’t just sad, it was downright depressing. He was a good actor and a great person. The 7th Fast and Furious film will be his last movie. By the time this is posted, that movie will be only a few days away from release. I am definitely going to see that.
But as for the first movie, my final thought is:
The Fast and the Furious is a very fun racing film. It could have focused on the plot more, but the high speed action sequences and fun characters make up for most of it. If you haven’t seen it, and you like these kinds of movies, then you might want to.
FINAL RATING: 34 / 50
STORY: 3 / 5
ACTING: 2 / 5
CHARACTERS: 4 / 5
CINEMATOGRAPHY/STUNTS: 4 / 5
ACTION: 5 / 5
SOUNDTRACK: 4 / 5
TONE: 4 / 5
ENJOYABILITY: 4 / 5
REWATCH VALUE: 4 / 5
OWNING VALUE: 2 / 5
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