Fast and furious all the way

Rating: 10/10 (4 January 2002)

PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE YET TO SEE THE FILM, THE ENDING IS REVEALED IN THIS COMMENT...
The Fast and the Furious, the underground sleeper hit of 2001. Not everybody saw it, but most of those who did see it loved it. Starring Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto, Paul Walker as Brian O'Connor, and the sexy Jordana Brewster as Dominic's sister Mia, it centres around the escapades of Dominic and his "team" of car enthusiasts, who fix up cars when not racing them at breakneck speeds down a Â¼ mile stretch of road. Gone are the American muscle cars such as the Viper and the Corvette, replaced by the computer chipped, NOS screaming Japanese super cars, like the Toyota Supra, Honda Civic, and Nissan Skyline. Such beautiful cars blend well with the great cast, as they are as much part of the film as the actors are. The amount of camera time they are given is just enough to show you how powerful and brilliant the cars are, but not too much to suggest they're only there for advertising sakes (like the ridiculous amount of screen time given to the Fed-Ex label in Castaway (2000), which spoils the film). Vin Diesel lives the part of Dominic, a brilliant driver who "lives his life a quarter of a mile at a time". His performance is as beefy as you'd expect from the actor who played killer Richard B Riddick in the 2000 hit Pitch Black. He delivers his lines with a style that suggests his character; a nice person when not racing, but deadly serious and all for himself when strapped into his vehicle. Paul Walker is just as good as the undercover cop Brian, hoping to pin a serious of jaw dropping robberies to Dominic. As he learns more about Dom and his team, he falls for Mia, also a great driver, and the lifestyle of fast cars, guns and women. As the film gets near it's amazing climax he struggles to keep his mind on why he's here; to catch Dominic Toretto and put him behind bars. But as they grow closer to each other it gets harder for Brian to do so. Anyone who loved the high speed chases in Ronin, The French Connection, or Bullit, will love the stunts in The Fast and the Furious. From the opening attack on the lorry, with the three sexy Civic's floating on their green neon light as they swerve and cruise around the truck, to the first race and the last race, the action is filmed so cleverly it seems impossible that cars could do what they did. The Civic that slides under the lorry as they speed down the motorway in the pre-credit sequence is simply amazing, and the adrenaline buzz from the first time Dominic and Brian race is great. It all flows so seamlessly between the racing, the stealing, and the normal life of the characters that you don't know what to expect right up until the end. The final scene, however, is outstanding. When Dominic tells Brian midway through the movie about the car he and his father built, a 1969 Dodge Charger with "900 horses of power", it's presence is overwhelming, and when he says he's never driven it because "it scares the shit outta me", your spine tingles. Dom then pulls it up to the start line he used to race on. He and Brian (driving a Supra) both await the green light, and when it arrives, and Dominic floors the throttle, the car pulls up violently and makes more noise than the cinema could handle, as it screamed off down the road at a shattering speed. But as they get toward the end, the movie stopped for a split second. If Dominic hit the train, and died, then it would become a bad ending to a good film. Neither hit the train, but then Dominic smashes into a truck and flies into the air. Again, if he had died it would be a bad ending, but he did not. The final choice, which fell to Brian as the police sirens got louder, was whether to let Dom go. He does, telling him "I owe you a 10 second car", and signifies a great ending to a brilliant film. From start to finish The Fast and the Furious is a NOS powered adrenaline rush, with beautiful actors, scenery, and even more beautiful cars. The start of the final race will live in my memory for a long time still.