Very good entertainment

Rating: 7/10 (26 February 2004)

I had initially dismissed this movie as just mere satisfaction for the testosterone seeking crowd of young teenage males enthralled by 'fast cars and hot women' but after having viewed the film I was surprised by how much I liked it. Yes those aforementioned elements are addressed much to the appreciation of the film's target audience I'm sure but Vin Disel and especially Paul Walker's charisma made their characters very interesting and even sympathetic. I actually cared about their fates. The rest of the supporting cast also complemented the leads nicely, especially Rick Yune (Die Another Day). I'm not really that fascinated by cars (I think they are noisy and pollutive) but this introduction to the street racing sub-culture was informative. The stunts were also nicely done with minimal special effects. Solid escapism, 7/10.