Fast and Furious

Officer Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) goes undercover in the Los Angeles street racing circuits in order to find out which of the racing crews is committing crimes with their muscle cars. But going undercover is never easy, especially with such affable miscreants.

The basic premise is really nothing special. But then again, it doesn't need to be. The point of this movie is in its style. It has fast cars, lots of racing, lots of hot, greased-up babes, muscle-heavy men (and cars) and a killer soundtrack. You don't watch it to be intrigued by carefully orchestrated plot points or tragic backstories or the heaviness of its pathos. No, you watch it to kick back, relax and have a good time.

And in delivering that, the movie more than delivers. But if it was just that, I'd probably rate the film a bit lower. What actually elevates this film above its immediate peers and helped launch a huge franchise, is the fact that this film is punching above its weight class and succeeding. And it does that by having some real good actors playing roles they were born to play. Walker is one of them, but I also have to mention Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez.

The dialogue is also surprisingly snappy and memorable. The plot, while basic, succeeds in making you care for these characters, and it also manages to make itself feel novel, despite arguably being at least a little clichéd. Once again, the fact that you care for these characters matters a lot.

Not a groundbreaking movie by any means, but it has surprising quality underneath all the testosterone being forcibly pumped into your veins.

Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) leads a group of friends and family to street race in the LA night. Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) is a cop working undercover to infiltrate his gang of suspected truck robberies. However he finds himself falling under Dominic's charisma and for Dominic's sister Mia (Jordana Brewster).

There is a lot of silly action, and unrealistic story lines. This is purely style winning over substance. The cars look cool and babes look hot. But it's the Vin Diesel presence and Paul Walker pretty boy looks that provide the heart of this movie. The boys have amazing chemistry and the gang feels like a real family. The story is almost unnecessary.

This is the movie that created a brand new mega movie franchise. Generally when there's movie franchises they make movies in the form of trilogies. But later this year when Fast and the Furious 6 comes out it'll be the sixth movie in the series which shows the level of box office appeal the series has to be able to pump out an average of 1 movie every two years is quite impressive. The only other series doing that kind of productivity with different directors on basically a once every 2 year rate is the James Bond series.

Vin Diesel who outside of his other series Riddick movies generally puts out mediocre to bad performances was basically made to play the role of Dominic Torretto. Same goes for Paul Walker, normally when I see he's going to be in a movie I don't bother watching it. But somehow when these 2 guys get together in a movie about driving fast cars with hot girls it turns into a guilty pleasure.

I don't remember when the first time was that I saw The Fast and the Furious but it dosen't matter because it gets better with each viewing. This movie is filled with what guys want to see; Hot and fast tricked out cars, beautiful women, and kick ass action sequences. The world that the characters live in in this film is the world we can only dream of, to race in cool tricked out cars with dozens of beautiful women surrounding you and cheering you on. All of this is what I love most about this film but I also love the cast; Vin Diesal, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster all clinch their roles. If I were to pick my favorite cast member I would have to go with Michelle Rodriguez because not only is she a talented actress she is beautiful and bad ass in everything she's ever been in and this is probably my favorite role of hers. This is a movie were you really don't have to care about the plot because all the eye-candy and fun of this movie is the cars, girls, and action which is enough to pull you into the driver's seat. The cars are fast the action is furious and that's why this movie rocks.

The Fast and the Furious is probably the first movie to get me into cars while at the same time enjoying myself without having to worry about a plot.

Paul Walker plays Brian O'Conner, a hot shot police officer, who goes undercover as a car junkie Brian Spilner to see if a local street racer/mechanic by the name of Dominic Toretto (Vin Diseal) has anything to do with hijacking a bunch of cargo from DVD's, TV's, entertainment sets, and so forth while at the same time falling head over heels for Dominic's sister Mia (Jordana Brewster). Brian comes so close while at the same time gaining trust to the target (Dominic) itself where it's only a matter of time before the truth comes out.

The film itself has the best action sequences involving street racing and high octane action where despite a so-so plot to follow, or one that's been seen before (such as Point Break), you don't have to worry about a thing. It's just pure fun.

The film also stars Michelle Rodriguez (S.W.A.T.) as Dominic's girlfriend, Letty; Ted Levine (The Silence of the Lambs) as Sgt. Tanner, and singer Ja Rule in a small cameo as a contestant against Dominic.