Paul Walker and Vin Diesel are back in the latest installment of the "Fast and the Furious" series of movies. They are back, but are they, along with the movie, better and upgraded? Well, the cars are. The new models and sleek designs will drive fanboys crazy. But other than that, I am afraid to say that this film isn't much of an upgrade over the other movies. Ok, this one is monumentally better than Tokyo Drift, but that film was terrible. It really isn't making much of a statement.
Let's start with the acting. Vin Diesel hasn't been in any "Fast and the Furious" film since the first one, and now that he has returned, he has added to the mediocre cast of actors. Paul Walker, though absent from Tokyo Drift, is back and hits one note. I can describe his performance as "a block of wood". Michelle Rodriguez is back, but gives a minimal and typical Michelle Rodriguez performance. That, of course, is trying to be tough with the guys. Jordana Brewster is ok in this, but surely gives a promising performance. She should obviously be casted in bigger, more serious roles. So all in all the acting in this film is bleh.
The story itself is simple. O'Conner (Walker) and Toretto (Diesel) are planning to take down a heroin importer. And yes, you guessed it, there is going to be a lot of cars used in this plan. The chases are nicely made and clever, but at times turns extremely implausible. The chases underground especially, as it doesn't even look real. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy some of the action and the cars, but the film so often prolongs each sequence and makes the movie altogether longer than it shouldv'e been.
All in all, "Fast & Furious" is below average. I was not a huge fan of Justin Lin's series, but liked it. This film didn't hurt or help my opinion on this series as a whole. If there is going to be another movie in this series, then hopefully the new one will improve on a lot of the loopholes. But until then, the latest one almost seems forced. Just ultimately pure mediocrity.
rating: 2 out of 4
