Yes, it's fast and furious, but it's also an audiovisual assault. *1/2 (out of four).

Rating: Null/10 (12 July 2001)

THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS / (2001) *1/2 (out of four)
By Blake French:
"The Fast and the Furious" is not a movie as much as it's an audiovisual assault. I suppose you can call it a motion picture because it consists of moving pictures flashing before a large screen, but movies are a form of the arts, which exist to please people. "The Fast and the Furious" is not pleasing, involving, or entertaining. Some people might enjoy it because of all the car stunts, crashes, chases, and intense action sequences, but that's all this production has. "The Fast and the Furious" should have a medical alert warning on its poster: "This film is not for those faint of heart." Not because of high octane suspense, but because it attacks our senses from all angles-to an unhealthy level. The booming, nauseating soundtrack demolishes our eardrums while our sight becomes desensitized by all the gratuitous violence and testosterone-laden fist fights. This isn't entertaining-it's violating.

This is the kind of movie that throws logic into the air to concentrate on stupefying the audience with unconvincing action. There's a scene where a cop speeds down the streets of LA in his car while firing a gun at an accelerating motorcycle. First, there would be more people on the streets of LA. Second, I do not think a cop would jeopardize the lives of so many innocent pedestrians by opening fire on a moving object.
Actor Paul Walker reunites with his "The Skulls" director Rob Cohen. (I will give Cohen credit for one thing: "The Fast and the Furious" is a whole lot better than "The Skulls," but that's not saying much.) He stars as an LA cop named Brian, who's working undercover to investigate a frequent string of truck hijackings.
The prime suspect is Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel from "Pitch Black"), a buff, tough, and rough dude who spends his days working at a tune-up shop and his nights drag racing high speed cars. Brian decides to earn the respect of the racer. Toretto's excepts Brian as his right-handman. Brian also falls for an attractive young woman (Jordana Brewster). Here's a surprise: the girl is Dominic's sister. "You break her heart, I'll break your neck," explains Dom to the humbled Brian. I wouldn't second guess him.
The one-dimensional, unsympathetic characters explain most of the plot to us, but their dual explanations feel like an intrusion to the copious action sequences. When they do speak, it's only in clichés. Don't worry, though. These scenes are few and far between. Most of the time the characters speak in actions, not words. Sometimes that can work to a movie's advantage, but not when the actions are violent impulses and obvious plot motivations.
"The Fast and the Furious" occupies no surprises, no involving character relationships, and no memorable lines of dialogue. After the movie, I defy anyone in the audience to quote a single line of important dialogue. You probably couldn't either, because there are no important lines of dialogue in this movie. A few moments do induce some much appreciated suspense, but before we become too interested, the production abruptly cuts to the next scene.
Naturally, "The Fast and the Furious" contains some eye-popping, jaw-dropping car stunts. This movie is a surefire hit with fans of such movies as "Gone in 60 Seconds" and "Driven." The action sequences are indeed intense and well accomplished, and I also admire the work by Vin Diesel. These positives make the negatives even more apparent. With the decent material present, it's a shame the movie as a whole is so utterly pointless.

"The Fast and the Furious" is yet another prime example of how movie producers hold back on the material to warrant a lower rating. In this case it's the PG-13. The rating greatly limits the violent and sexual content, and the language the street gang uses is anything but realistic. Some movies are born to be R-rated, like "The Fast and the Furious." But gutless producers want their movie suitable for all audiences, thus the movie is more likely to prosper in the box office. I'm sure I speak for many when I say that I felt cheated out of a more edgy, provocative movie.

I like the title, though. "The Fast and the Furious," they got that right!