Tripe, somewhat entertaining tripe.

Rating: Null/10 (11 August 2002)

Ok I avoided this movie like the plague. The trailer made it look like nothing but stupid stunts, and sex...all while Limp Bizkit played. They made it look like a movie about car freaks, and who the heck wants to see a movie about idiots who spend thousands on something as stupid as a car?
Well I gave in and rented it (after a recommendation from a friend), once you get past the first 15-25 minutes of pure hollywood crap, you basically have a B-movie plot with A-movie stunts.
The first 15-25 min. (I didn't keep track) are pure torture. They start off with the illegal street racing scene, which is something out of the 1960's. The latinos are all in one group, the Asians are all in one group, and the blacks all hung out in one group. Apparently their love of cars brings them together, but not enough to intermix socially. And of course all of the guys in the movie look like they have been working out in the gym daily since they were five years old, and all the women look like they just got off their Playboy and Maxim photo shoots.

Then of course to bring in more kids, we have to watch Ja Rule, a very annoying rapper, who should not act, or rap for that matter, get swooned over and offered a threeway. Apparently all Playboy and Maxim models are crazy for guys who will spend thousands on car parts and win at illegal street racing. And then of course it turns out that the Asians in the movie are a gang of low life thugs, another bad movie cliche.
And of course there is Vin Diesel's gang, which follow all the typical gang stereotypes. Vin is the cool leader, who all in the illegal car world look up to, and everybody respects and listens to. Then there is Letty (Rodriguez) who is his tough girlfriend, who is presumed frail and then kicks all male butt she comes in contact with. Then Vince (Schulze) his hot-headed right hand man, whose temper has to constantly be kept under control. Then Leon (Strong) who has no role in the gang what-so-ever, yet they make him seem important. And finally Jesse (Lindberg) who is the smartest out of all of them and has the usual "smart guy, frail body" physique, and is the youngest one.
Eventually the story is about Brian (Walker) being an undercover cop and hunting down the robbers of trucks full of electronic equipment. The dialouge and acting is cheesy, but for those who can stomach b-movie fodder, it's no big deal.
Basically the big payoff is the last 20 minutes, which feature amazing car chase scenes, and very cool stunts. My jaw was on the floor through some of those scenes, because you could tell that none of that was faked, no CG, just stunt drivers (maybe, I don't know if the actors did all their own stunts) and well choreographed stunts.
Basically I recommend you rent it, laugh at the cliches and bad dialouge and acting, and then let your jaw drop when you get to the final scenes.