Life is slowly improving and I should be back again in December! Yippee!!
Life is slowly improving and I should be back again in December! Yippee!!
Member since:23.08.2002
Reviews:53
Members who trust:56
I have become a bit of a Vin Diesel fan recently, so I leapt at the opportunity to buy The Fast and the Furious on special offer! I sat down last night to watch it, with the full intention of drooling at Vin Diesel and Paul Walker (Well, I have been single nearly 6 months now!!).
I have heard mixed reviews of this film, people either love it or hate it. So, which category would I fall into?
The story is fairly simple. The film begins with the hijacking of a truck, by men in 3 black Honda Civics. They use precision driving to take control of the truck with its cargo of valuable electronics.
We then jump to Brian (Paul Walker), who wants to join the street racing set. He works in a car parts company and every day goes to the shop/sandwich bar owned by Dom (Vin Diesel). His apparent interest is Dom's sister, Mia (Jordana Brewster).
He slowly enters Dom's world. He challenges Dom to a race. He just loses, then helps Dom escape from the police after the race. He becomes part
of the 'family' that Dom has around him and falls in love with Mia.
The problem is that Brian is a cop. He has gone undercover to find out who is hijacking the trucks. He soon finds that his job is becoming difficult, as he gets pulled in the world of street racing and finds that he really likes the people there.
I really enjoyed the film. It is nothing new, apart from where it is set. It is an action filled film with sexy men and gorgeous women.
Vin Diesel (XXX, Pitch Black) is perfectly cast as the anti hero Dom. He has a great screen presence that enables him to come across as big and powerful, even when he is standing still. He has no need for posturing and posing. He is also very likable.
You find yourself feeling for and understanding his character. You like the man who seems to take in waifs and strays, who then become part of the family.
Paul Walker (The Skulls, Pleasantville) is brilliant as Brian. He was great casting too. He is young enough for you to believe the pull between the two worlds he is involved in. He has that rough edge that makes you believe in his character.
Michelle Rodriguez (Resident Evil) is fantastic as Dom's girlfriend. She is tough and sexy. You wouldn't argue with her, but she never loses her femininity.
I also loved Rick Yune (Die Another Day) as Dom's arch enemy Johnny Tran. A very nasty piece of work with a lot of money and no morals. He likes killing people and being a very unpleasant bloke!
The director, Rob Cohen (XXX, The skulls, Dragon:The Bruce Lee Story), did a fantastic job. He takes you from the adrenaline and excitement of the races themselves, to the depths of the characters in the films.
He managed to make you feel what it is like to drive over 140 mph. You can feel your heart pumping and the adrenaline kicking in as you watch. You start to understand what the Street Racing scene is about and why people do it. I found myself thinking that it would be great to drive one of these cars (I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie though!). Then the sensible side of me pointed out that it must be doing terrible damage to the environment!!
You found yourself becoming very involved in the characters. You were allowed to see who they were and where they came from. You began to understand the 'family' that Dom had built around him. Some were apparently dysfunctional, such as Jesse, who has ADD, but is an absolute whizz with cars. The group included the people Dom grew up with and the people who had just tagged along and become part of the group.
You could understand how Dom attracted people to him and even felt that you almost wanted to be part of his team.
You certainly wanted to believe, as Brian did, that these people were not behind the hijacking, but when you really thought about the amount of money that went into the cars, you realised that there was no other way to fund it.
The soundtrack was very much Nu metal. I have to say that I didn't like it much at all. It did fit the scenes to a point, but was too dysfunctional in itself. I felt it distracted from the film.
The video also has a 40 minute bonus section, with background to the film. Here the actors tell you a little more about the characters and you find out a little more about the street racing scene. Rob Cohen gives you his reasons for making the film and why he chose that theme.
I did enjoy the film. I took it as it was, an action film with a decent character base. There was plenty of action, with lots of nice attractive men for us women and top women for the men.
A good solid, no effort required, action movie.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Action/Adventure - Director: Gore Verbinski - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Bill Nighy, Keira Knightley, Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Chow Yun-Fat
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Advantages: Back to the cruising scene with great cars, great sound systems and great girls. Action packed Disadvantages: It's not as good as Fast and Furious, poor acting, unrealistic story
Advantages: Plenty of action, nice effects, Vin Diesel, no need to think too hard. Disadvantages: Not really any, unless you're expecting something that it's not.
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