Review II

Fast & Furious is a film with fast cars but left me furious. The film fails in substance and racial stereotypes are excessive throughout, thus the decent action scenes and stunts are the only solace left for the audience.

 Director Justin Lin reunited Paul Walker (Brian O’Conner) and Vin Diesel (Dom Toretto) to hit the streets of Los Angeles with Michelle Rodriguez (Letty) and Jordana Brewster (Mia Toretto).

 The opening scene, the hijacking of a gasoline truck that goes wrong, fails to grab my attention and lacks in significance. There is also the introduction of new characters like Reggaeton singers Tego Calderon and Don Omar, an attempt to engage with the notorious Reggaeton scene of Dominican Republic into the mainstream. Fast & Furious forgot about the fast cars and street races; instead it brings up a revenge plot similar to the one Vin Diesel starred in Man Apart (2003).

 Dom a fugitive ex-con is out for revenge when a drug deal went bad and his girlfriend Letty is killed in a car pursuit. While trying to get to the killer Dom meets again with FBI agent O’Conner, portrayed as the legal white superior that is Dom’s salvation from prison. That is when the plot starts as Dom and O’Conner team up in order to confront the same enemy (a heroin importer). The movie does have some thriller moments in the Mexican dessert and tunnels that serve as commentary on the recent Mexican Drug war. Although the new cars are faster, exotic and extravagant it is nothing compared to the first Fast & Furious or Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift.

 If you are in the mood to see fast cars and action/adventure scenes this is the right movie but  absolutely not to go on a date or with your family. It is certainly aimed to the young minorities in the U.S. in romanticizing their illegal activities. More importantly the movie is missing more cars, races and guns to make it more exciting.

Alan Delon

Communication senior